While we’re all wondering when a chip update will come to the current iMac, Apple is working on some potential new features that we might see later. Obviously, Apple is reporting that Apple has obtained a new patent for a feature that would allow the iMac to project an image onto a wall, desk, or other surface.
US-11630485-B2 is titled “Housing Structures and Input-Output Devices for Electronic Devices” and Paul X. Wang and Joshua P. Song are listed as the inventors. The patent abstract describes a “rear wall of the housing [that] may have a glass part or other transparent structure through which projectors project images onto nearby surfaces” and that there could also be sensors that receive light, possibly for wireless connections.
USPTO/Apple
The patent also says the iMac would include “gaze detection sensors, three-dimensional image sensors, cameras, and other components,” which sounds like the sensors needed for Face ID.
Another component described in the patent filing is the stand, which would have a “glass planner portion” and house “an array of pixels, a wireless communication circuit, and a wireless power circuit.”
Although the patent does not explicitly state that the features described pertain to an iMac, the diagrams and descriptions appear to match, and the patent refers to a “computer” in its abstract. In practice, an Apple screen can be equipped with the features described.
Suppose Apple releases an iMac capable of projecting an image. For what? It can be used for online meetings and FaceTime calls. The iMac is often used as a television in small rooms, so it can be used as an entertainment center in a larger room. Apple might also promote it as a gaming feature, though gamers would argue that GPU performance and available library are the issues, not the display.
Apple frequently files patents, and many products and features in Apple Files are never made public. Anyone remember Apple’s patent for self-lacing shoes? The iMac projector patent seems more doable than the shoes, and if that happens, it could take a few years.
