Apple patent hints at touchscreen iMacs and MacBooks

Figure 1

This new patent application might provide some intriguing clues as to what Apple is planning for its next big innovation. Read the blog post, “Apple’s next big innovation: The iMac Touch?” and check out these excerpts of drawings and explanations to see what might be on the horizon.

FIG. 1 shows the computer system 100 oriented for a keyboard/mouse input mode. That is, in this particular example embodiment, when display 103 is oriented relatively upright, high, and further away from the user, a keyboard/ mouse input mode is selected.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 – Digitized by Google

Figure 9a

FIG. 9A shows low-resolution input mode UI 800 displayed on screen 601. If the user would like to view items that have been slid off the screen due to transition effect 700, the user canuse a touch input, for example, the user can place his or her hand (or one or more fingers) on the screen and move the hand or fingers in a direction, to un-obscure the items.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 – Digitized by Google

Figure 9b

FIG. 9B shows the result of the pulldown. The items of UI 800, including application window 811, thumbnail images 817, and buttons 818, have moved downward with the user’s hand, and enlarged menu bar 603 (903) along with enlarged menu bar items 605 (905) have been pulled down from an offscreen position and are now viewable on screen 601. As shown in FIG. 9B, the user now has access to menu bar items 905, and consequently, may be able to select items from drop-down menus of menu bar 903. This may allow the user to access functions that might not otherwise be accessible in a low resolution input mode UI.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 – Digitized by Google