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Apple patent proposes iMac made entirely of glass

Just as there are rumors, there are patents – and eventually both intersect at some point. This is one of them.

A patent at least futuristic shows how Apple could one day create a iMac made entirely from a single piece of glass – in addition to serving as a dock for MacBooks Air / Pro.

The invention – registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office on July 20, 2018 – is entitled “electronic device with a glass insert element” and precisely defines a glass iMac with the possibility for a virtual keyboard, with the option of docking a MacBook – something like an eGPU.

The electronic device may include a glass member with an upper portion that corresponds to the display area, a lower portion that defines an entrance area and a transition portion that joins the upper and lower portions on a curved surface. […] The electronic device may include a support structure coupled to the glass housing member and configured to support computing devices.

To summarize the excerpt above: the design is essentially a curved glass at the bottom, with the screen (made of an unspecified material) embedded in the upper portion. The structure would be supported by a kind of wedge that would also house the components of the iMac.

Glass iMac patent

As we said, the patent also discusses the possibility of docking a MacBook from the space dedicated to the iMac keyboard, as shown in the image below. This would allow the user to dock the notebook to use its keyboard while taking advantage of the larger screen.

Glass iMac patent

It is worth remembering that this is just a patented concept, and does not indicate that Apple is, in fact, about to launch such a desktop. Anyway, a glass iMac has been the dream of certain users for at least ten years, when we commented on this mockup. Will it ever go?

via AppleInsider