Apple has filed a patent for hybrid notebook/tablet whose display can be removed from the base containing the keyboard, reports Apple related USENET newsgroups.
“The patent filing includes details of a very cool display with a retractable magnetic mechanism that hides itself once detached from the MacBook’s main body. Today, on paper at least, Apple has finally revealed their first patent filing about a hybrid notebook-tablet with actual details. ”
Apple states that their invention may take the form of a computing device including a base and a display selectively removable from the base. When connected or coupled to the base, the display may be rotatable and may pivot from an open position to a closed position. When disconnected or decoupled from the base, the display may be positioned in substantially any manner suitable by the user for viewing the display.
The design uses a clever magnetic hinge system to hold the touch-sensitive display in place when using the computer as a laptop. When the display is removed to become a stand-alone tablet, the hinges retract into its side, leaving users with a clean-looking device that feels like a tablet and not a display yanked off of a laptop.
In other embodiments, the power and/or data transfer may be wireless when the display is either coupled or decoupled from the base. In one example, the display and base may each communicate via a 60 GHz wireless chip. In another example, substantially any type of data transmission may be used, e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi, and so on.
Apple has previously shown interest in wireless power transmission tech, most recently filing a patent application for an “on-the-go” iPad Smart Cover that acts as a secondary tablet battery. In another property, the company describes an entire computing environment powered by near-field magnetic resonance.
