It?s a 34? screen notebook, not another boring tablet.

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
It?s a 34? screen notebook, not another boring tablet. Yes, you heard me right. Apple is creating a new market. FINALLY!



This is something I?ve been thinking for some time now? and as I?ve read the filed patent it just may be what Apple is up to: a 30?, perhaps 34? inch screen notebook. Got it?



Didn?t get it? Look at your notebook. Why does it have a keyboard and trackpad, when it could have another same-sized screen for double the desktop space at the same weight and form factor? The keyboard and trackpad are gone, in is a touch display that enables input. Since we do not type most of the time, only on the road we'll use the display keyboard... we'll use wireless keyboards at home and work, because this is just the start of Apple's new move. According to my theory, that is (or to what I would do IF i WERE in charge, that is).



Imagine a hardcover book. Now, imagine opening the book in front of you and letting it stand upright on a table. If you?ve ever worked with a 30 inch display and marveled, think about this: the 15.4? MacBook Pro, under these dual displays design, would be bigger than that! Or place upright your 2x17 inch screen notebook, add a small wireless keyboard + mouse, and you can be word processing in portrait mode with 2 pages side by side? or you can browse the web in portrait mode also in 2 pages, or you can have widgets in one display and apps on the other? the possibilities are clearly there, Apple has clearly developed (at least the input tech) and the only real world problem seems to be the battery life. A 17" display costs a mere $250! This thing could sell for $2500 in 34 inch form factor and should Apple lock in the design with their patents, it could really be explosive.



What I would do is: keep including keyboards and mice, and tell naysayers they?ll only have to type in the virtual keyboard while on the road? a small drawback? after all, who would care about that when you can have a 24inch desktop in a factor as small as a 12 inch powerbook? -- Alex Linhares ([email protected])









MORE INFO:



You can find the patent here:

http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...%22.AS.&OS=AN/



http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.ph...user_interfac/



AND THE SUBTLE HINTS OF A DUAL DISPLAY NOTEBOOK, SUCH AS--> "52. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the visual indicator is a differentiated display of the input field of the application display."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    And here I thought Scott was saying that Edward Van Halen now works for Apple Engineering. I didn't even know Scott was the type to appreciate Van Halen.
  • Reply 2 of 22
    mr. dirkmr. dirk Posts: 187member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Alexandre_Linhares

    It?s a 34? screen notebook, not another boring tablet. Yes, you heard me right. Apple is creating a new market. FINALLY!



    This is something I?ve been thinking for some time now? and as I?ve read the filed patent it just may be what Apple is up to: a 30?, perhaps 34? inch screen notebook. Got it?



    AND THE SUBTLE HINTS OF A DUAL DISPLAY NOTEBOOK, SUCH AS--> "52. The computer-readable medium of claim 49, wherein the visual indicator is a differentiated display of the input field of the application display."




    You may be on to something here: it would be completely innovative, and (perhaps) even more useful than a dedicated tablet. The only real problem from an Apple design perspective would be where to put cords, etc., especially if it were meant to be turned on its side. I could easily see Apple borrowing a bit from the Nintendo DS: it has two screens, one of which is a touch screen and can be used for input. It really would revolutionize the way laptops would be used--chatting, browsing, drawing, etc.



    Adding to the patent fun: Apple employees file for wide touchpad patent
  • Reply 3 of 22
    Sounds interesting, but I imagine battery life would be a big concern...
  • Reply 4 of 22
    aries 1baries 1b Posts: 1,009member
    ...and carrying it would be easy too!



    V/R,



    Aries 1B

    Powerlifter.
  • Reply 5 of 22
    vochvoch Posts: 28member
    Maybe it folds like George Jetson's car?
  • Reply 6 of 22
    sandausandau Posts: 1,230member
    I could see this in a couple of years, but definitely not this year. Its a cool concept but the battery life would really stink, imho. I think we need to wait until we have those nifty hydrogen power units you can feed with water...
  • Reply 7 of 22
    ipeonipeon Posts: 1,122member
    34" Notebook? Hmmm. O.....K......



    Nonetheless, here's a video showing what the patent might be about. Powerful possibilities. Check it out: http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha...rld_of_sm.html
  • Reply 8 of 22
    mattyjmattyj Posts: 898member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aries 1B

    ...and carrying it would be easy too!



    V/R,



    Aries 1B

    Powerlifter.




    Best. Post. Ever.
  • Reply 9 of 22
    objra10objra10 Posts: 679member
    Except that a 30" screen has 4X's the screen real estate of a 15" screen. In reality, if you're notebook was a fold open screen, you'd really only have 20" of screen - and it wouldn't be widescreen.
  • Reply 10 of 22


    You're right about the widescreen aspect--that just may not be the best design for it, though there are so many affordable screens in this aspect ratio, and the market has been upwards towards the trend, that I think this would be the most probable layout (for each screen, of course).



    Best, --A.
  • Reply 11 of 22
    Quote:

    Originally posted by OBJRA10

    Except that a 30" screen has 4X's the screen real estate of a 15" screen. In reality, if you're notebook was a fold open screen, you'd really only have 20" of screen - and it wouldn't be widescreen.



    About the *diagonal* display size, the increase in size will depend on the aspect ratio and on which side gets 'doubled', the smaller or larger... perhaps a better measure, instead of diagonal size, would be desktop size in pixels. The 2x17" notebook would have a desktop of 1680x2100 or 3360x1050. Compare that to the 23" apple cinema display of 1920x1200. A 17" with 1650x1050 that goes to 1650x2100 has 50% more pixels than the 23". It is much, much larger.



    in fact, a 13.3 inch laptop with 1280x800 goes to 1280x1600, which is 88% of the desktop space of the HUGE APPLE CINEMA 23" (1920x1200). A 13.3 inch widescreen notebook is very portable... perhaps a larger battery would not increase weight so much -- for a notebook with a dektop area larger than a 20" cinema display? I'd get one, even if weight goes up from around 4lb to 6lb for 2lb of extra juice.



    Anyway, this would be a change in notebook design unseen since Apple moved the keyboard close to the screen. It would add more functionality as the patent seems to state, and it would certainly look incredibly good.



    It would make our notebooks today look like a century old.



    Best, --A.
  • Reply 12 of 22
    akheron01akheron01 Posts: 152member
    Quick n' dirty (5 seconds of effort) mock-up, I give you, the MacBook DS!



  • Reply 13 of 22
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    sexy!
  • Reply 14 of 22
    How long would a typing screen lasts. I can already see the indentations that your fingers leave after a month.
  • Reply 15 of 22
    hardeeharharhardeeharhar Posts: 4,841member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by OBJRA10

    Except that a 30" screen has 4X's the screen real estate of a 15" screen. In reality, if you're notebook was a fold open screen, you'd really only have 20" of screen - and it wouldn't be widescreen.



    Um... no.



    Imagine a screen that was one pixel tall and 30" or 15" wide.



    Now imagine a screen that was square 30" or 15" diagonal.



    The math isn't as simple as considering the edges of a square because the sizes of screens are given in diagonals... No two 17" displays of different aspect ratios have the same area...
  • Reply 16 of 22
    objra10objra10 Posts: 679member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hardeeharhar

    Um... no.



    Imagine a screen that was one pixel tall and 30" or 15" wide.



    Now imagine a screen that was square 30" or 15" diagonal.



    The math isn't as simple as considering the edges of a square because the sizes of screens are given in diagonals... No two 17" displays of different aspect ratios have the same area...




    uh.. yes. I wasn't considering the sides. I'm not stupid. I know that the screen sizes are measured by the diagonal - which is exactly why a 30" screen has 4X the real estate and not 2X of a 15" screen. In your first example - the screen is only twice the size. In the second - it's four times. (it's true that this assumes the same aspect ratio. I can't think of how you could double the diagonal though and only double the area.)



    The point was that doubling up on a screen would not accomplish what the OP was talking about.
  • Reply 17 of 22
    i reckon this will be awesome, i remember someone in AI saying something about the new ibook will have more new feature then any other. here's my 2D mock-up



    macbook
  • Reply 18 of 22
    48hours48hours Posts: 11member
    Looks like a concept notbook. Finally, apple will make it true, but in several steps. For example, first apple will enlarge the touch panel.
  • Reply 19 of 22
    hobbithobbit Posts: 532member
    I really love the idea! But...



    Have you ever tried typing a letter on a flat foil keyboard? I remember playing with a Sinclair ZX81 and when I typed for extended hours on a keyboard that doesn't bulge, where one simply presses the fingers against a flat, hard surface... OUCH!



    It hurts terribly after an hour or two. It's not nice. You can forget doing some serious work on it (unless it's graphical work). There is value in a key that physically travels downward.

    And I don't want to carry an external keyboard as well. Doesn't make sense.



    How could Apple overcome this? I'm not sure it can be done.



    If someone could invent a completely transparent physical laptop keyboard sitting on top, that would be great. But it surely would block the view eventually, if only through dust stuck between the keys. And also the whole touch screen advantage would be lost too if a real keyboard would sit on top of the screen.



    A catch-22.
  • Reply 20 of 22
    murkmurk Posts: 935member
    First, Google "FingerWorks". Apple bought the company and that's where these touch patents are coming from. Second, imagine not a 34" screen but something more along the lines of Origami. A new type of small portable computer. Stylus or virtual keyboard will work for many things. How much typing do you really do, when browsing the internet anyway? If you are writing a novel, you could always use a real BT keyboard. Also imagine turning it on its side to read eBooks.
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