The evolution of the iPad that was written in the stars? It sure looks like Apple is getting serious about cloning the Surface Book design as a device with a near identical form factor has been sighted.
Like other technology companies, Apple also constantly patents ideas and technologies, even if only a few of them ever manage to materialize in a consumer device. Like Microsoft, the company considers all sorts of wild ideas.
This latest one is not exactly wild, considering Redmond got their first.
But as discovered, the Cupertino based company has patented an iPad with a dock station that suspiciously resembles the Surface Book concept that Microsoft pioneered.
The design features a detachable keyboard with electromechanical keys, a trackpad, and a coupling mechanism that allows the device to be used in a range of different positions — all the usual ones like laptop mode, tent mode, canvas mode.
Furthermore, the hinge in the dock station has the ability to display brief information, work as an Apple Pencil holder, and ma contain a camera, microphone, or projector.
Another noteworthy aspect of the iPad concept shown here is that it is powered by macOS rather than the tablet focused iPadOS. The line between the two operating systems continues to blur as Apple has been adding M1 processors to more iPads, while Macs are switching to the ARM platform.
If this concept becomes a reality, the company might be launching a device that could potentially switch between macOS and iPadOS depending on the connected accessories.
Seems like a natural evolution, even though Microsoft seems to have abandoned the Surface Book idea.
