Two years ago Apple had filed a patent on a iMac all glass, with an included keyboard and trackpad. Today the Apple deposits new additions, which make it part of the device touchscreen and make the keyboard and trackpad movable, for easier use.
Apple patents a glass iMac with a touchscreen
Cupertino engineers continue to work on a iMac made entirely of glass, a unique and certainly impressive design. However, the patent specifies that the glass does not necessarily have to be transparent, but could be made opaque in certain places.
Compared to what was patented almost two years ago, Apple specifies that it will be possible to adjust the angle of screen tilt, so that the computer can be positioned differently. Also, it brings an update to what used to be a clear limitation of the device. In fact, this new text explains that the keyboard and the trackpads are placeable by sliding the horizontal block that houses them forward.
But a big surprise reserves another note of the text, which explains that at least part of the screen will be touchscreen. Something Apple had always discarded: Steve Jobs he said vertical touch surfaces are great for presentations but less for work everyday. Jony Ive e Phil Schiller they said they agreed.
The patent however does not suggest that the entire screen will be touch. Maybe Apple is thinking of one Touch Bar similar to what was seen on older MacBook Pros.
As always when it comes to patents, it becomes hard to tell if Apple is really in production for this glass iMac. It could just be a series of patents submitted for future projects but which won’t catch on. Or Apple may have already designed one to go into production but it needs the documents first. We just have to wait for more information: at the moment this iMac is just an all-glass idea.