Tech giant Apple is working on a new computer that will be made up of a single piece of curved glass. The company has just filed a new patent for a device called Electronic Device with Glass Housing Member. The stunning patent was published by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The new computer will be made up of entirely a single piece of glass. The display will be embedded into the glass and there will be a curve at the bottom to create a platform the iMac stands on. The whole frame will be supported by a wedge. It will house all the essential components of the system including the ports.
The curved sheet of glass will have a large flat area at the bottom. It will house input devices such as a keyboard or a trackpad. Users can also dock a MacBook into the device. The laptop will theoretically output its screen to the iMac’s display. Its keyboard will pass through a gap in the middle of the machine. This will allow users to take advantage of the larger display. According to Apple’s claim, its transition portion will be made up of a continuous, curved surface. The document filed by Apple shows that when the device is not in use, the single glass sheet could fold down its middle to allow users to pack it.
Notably, this is just a patent and there is no clear cut indication from the company on creating an iMac using a single piece of glass. The Cupertino based tech company is known for filing a large number of patent applications every year. If Apple wins this latest patent and creates a single glass sheet iMac, it could transform desktop computing. The iMac is one of the iconic devices manufactured by Apple. The iMac’s design has remained relatively unchanged over the ten years. If a future version of the iMac comes with changes in design, it will not be surprising but surely be interesting to look at what changes it sports.