In other patent news, Apple has further fuelled expectations for an ultraportable MacBook with the filing of an application that details an iMac-like base station into which a laptop-sized device can be slotted so as to take advantage of full-sized keyboard, mouse and screen. Gizmodo, who unearthed the patent, threw together this mockup of how the system could work, with the ultraslim notebook sliding into the side of the monitor, which has the same ports and connectivity as an iMac desktop machine.
Existing MacBooks would be a tricky fit in such a design, and their relatively large keyboards and screens would prompt little need for the docking station, which has led to the assumption that this is intended to accompany a much smaller, ultraportable notebook.
[via SlashGear]
Ever thought about the combination of such a dock with a tablet? …
Funnily enough, Tim, while I was writing I did wonder whether this could be a docking station of sorts for the rumored Touch Tablet (aka Newton). My hesitancy was over the as-yet-unknown specs of such a device, and whether Apple would want it positioned as a possible desktop machine or if its capabilities would be more balanced as a UMPC-rival.