DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Your future Apple laptop could be an iPhone

Mar 28, 2017 by John Aldred 12 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

It’s not exactly a new idea, but we all know it’s not cool until Apple does it. There have been attempts at a device like this a couple of times before. But it’s just never really taken off. We’re talking about a laptop-like dock for your smartphone. The only one that’s seen any kind of popularity at all is the Motorola Atrix Lapdock. And even that is more amongst the Raspberry Pi crowd than its originally intended target.

Published recently by the US Patent and Trademark Office, Apple’s patent provides their take on the idea. And the idea is very cool. It would be very handy to be able to just plug my phone into a larger screen and keyboard while away from home. But can Apple pull it off? Or is it another “me too!” device that’s doomed to fail?

It’s billed as an accessory. A “thin” device which extends the functionality of another device (your iPhone), but is inoperable by itself. It will have no independent processor, although it can offer some support. The patent says that it could contain a GPU or other hardware to help accelerate the phone’s performance. Given the general demands placed on laptops, this certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Aesthetically, the build description seems similar to that of the MacBook Pro. Except your phone will take the place of the MacBook’s trackpad. It’s suggested that it will be made from aluminium or another lightweight, strong composite material. The LCD would also offer touchscreen abilities, so you wouldn’t solely be relying on your phone for interaction with the UI.

It’s also suggested in the patent that a similar device might become available for the iPad. This, however, would not contain its own screen. Instead you’d use your iPad’s screen, and bolt on a keyboard & trackpad. Essentially, this turns the iPad into a 2-in-1. Something like the Asus Transformer Book – which is my current location backup and mobile “keeping up with social media” solution.

It hasn’t yet been stated exactly how the iOS device will communicate with the dock. It could be a standard Lightning plug, or go wireless with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or some other technology. But it will be interesting to see if Apple are able to make a success with this type of device where so many others have tried and failed in the past.

The Motorola Atrix Lapdock mentioned above was shown off at CES back in 2011. Samsung also filed their own patent for a similar device to accompany the Galaxy Note back in 2015. It’s possible Samsung could’ve actually pulled that one off, if not for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s early demise.

Given the power that the iPad now has with the transition to the iPad Pro, adding a keyboard and trackpad makes a lot of sense. From a productivity standpoint, being able to type on a real keyboard, and interact with content in a more laptop fashion is huge.

Even as an iPhone addon, being able to slip your phone into a laptop style dock is very handy. Especially for social media on the go. I interact a lot on social media, especially when I’m away from home, and that on screen keyboard gets very annoying.

Let’s just hope that if Apple do bring this to reality, it comes at a decent price point.

You can read the full patent here.

[via Apple Insider]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Apple kills off 3rd party iPhone 12 camera repairs thanks to proprietary Apple tool requirement Corephotonics adds the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X to its lawsuit against Apple iPhone 7 photo wins Apple iPhone Photography Award Grand Prize 2021 – Here are all the winners iPhone’s digital viewfinder might let you see separate views from its dual cameras in the future.

Filed Under: news Tagged With: apple, iOS, ipad, iPhone, MacBook Pro, patent

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Watch a sea lion trying to check what a cameraman tastes like
Making sense of aperture, shutter speed and ISO with the exposure triangle »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • The Nour Triplet V 2.0 lens is more about art than sharpness
  • Surreal Icelandic landscape wins 2023 Epson International Pano Awards
  • 2023 Siena International Photo Awards winner shows the pain and meaninglessness of war
  • Why and how to use photography to document your personal life
  • Shooting long exposures on film with minimal gear

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy