Apple examining ways to pack an entire Mac into a keyboard

Talk about your compact Mac! Apple has filed for a patent (number 20220057845) dubbed “computer in an input device” that involves packing an entire Mac into a keyboard.

About the patent filing

In the patent filing, Apple notes that large components have traditionally been needed within computers to achieve a desired level of performance, such as a desired amount of memory or a desired level of computing power. However, the tech giant adds that a strong demand for portable computing devices which also deliver high performance has driven miniaturization and reduction in size of the once bulky computing components used to power and drive the devices. 

Components, such as processors, batteries, memory, integrated circuits, and the like are now being manufactured within smaller footprints to provide lightweight and thin portable computing devices. The patent filing notes that “consequently, further tailoring of housing designs, shapes, and configurations to provide additional or enhanced device functionality can therefore be desirable.”

Apple is at least considering that one solution is placing an entire Mac inside a keyboard. It’s easy to imagine such a scenario. All you would need is the Keyboard Mac and an external display (hopefully with good built-in speakers).

Summary of the patent filing

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing with the tech details: “A computing device can include an enclosure that defines an internal volume and an external surface. An input component can be positioned at the external surface. A processing unit and a memory can be communicatively coupled and disposed within the internal volume. 

“A singular input/output port can be positioned at an orifice defined by the enclosure. The singular input/output port can be communicatively coupled to the processing unit and the memory. The singular input/output port can be configured to receive data and power and configured to output data from the processing unit. The computing device can include an air-moving apparatus to move air along an airflow pathway. The enclosure can include a thermally conductive base.”