‘Cheese grater’ Mac laptops, iPhones, iPads, anyone?

Future Macs, iPhones, and iPads may sport the “cheese grater” look of the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR as evidenced by a new Apple patent filing (number 10,966,343) for “housing construction.” The reason? For more effective cooling.

In the patent filing, the tech giant says that recent advances in electronic devices have enabled high levels of performance. However, existing components and structures for electronic devices, however, may limit the levels of performance of such devices. 

For example, an existing housing may limit the performance of an electronic device because of an inability to effectively distribute or reject heat generated by the electronic device to the surrounding environment. Apple says that therefore, in this regard, further tailoring of components for electronic devices to provide additional or enhanced functionality and pleasing aesthetic features may be desirable. 

Here’s the summary of the patent filing: “A structure can include a body having a first surface and a second opposing surface. The three-dimensional structure can include the body defining a first pattern of first cavities extending into the body from the first surface and the body defining a second pattern of second cavities extending into the body from the second surface. One or more first cavities can eccentrically intersect with one or more second cavities to define a pattern of apertures in the body.”