According to a newly published patent, Apple is considering the use of 'deployable feet' to enhance cooling and hide the ports of MacBooks. The patent echoes Apple's latest drives to thin its form factors, stemming from last year's ultra-thin MacBook Air. Based on the new patent, Apple could move forward with thinner MacBooks within the next few years.
Last year, Apple launched a MacBook Air without a fan or a vent. Though the notebook series is already thin by itself, the newly-launched MacBook Air relies on a more natural way to cool itself. Whereas other MacBooks models have retained the usual form factor for notebooks, the recent Air has lived even further up to its name.
Apple's design for packing the deployable feet into the MacBook's already lithe frame was spotted by Patently Apple. Though one of the most practical applications would be to aid in cooling the device, the feet could also add in retractable supports and a way to hide additional parts. According to the patent, the concept could use "a pneumatic, a magnetic, a piezo friction, or an electro-mechanical system," noting the different ways the feet could be implemented. A sensor to detect temperature and processing speed could also be included.
MacBook Feet: Could They Keep It Cool?
Instead of a fan or a laptop vent, the design, if implemented, creates a natural well via which for heat to escape. The retractable gap would mean heat would accumulate to a lesser extent at the bottom of the device. Given that the mechanism would likely come with a heat sensor, the potential MacBooks in the future could automatically deploy the feet to help with cooling and prevent potential heat issues. The extent to which the mechanism could adequately allow heat to escape is not clear. On its own, the mechanism only creates a well. However, a fan hidden inside the mechanism could also be included, which would definitely aid in preventing heat accumulation.
Any such mechanism would also allow MacBooks to hide other features underneath the device, potentially allowing Apple to include more features and helping Apple to make future MacBooks slimmer than ever. Such MacBooks would follow in the MacBook Air's footsteps as a sleek notebook without ports and with natural cooling. That said, the concept remains a design only at present. Although it is extensively described, there is no indication when or if a finished product will arrive on the market.
Source: Patently Apple, USPTO