Two displays, no keys?

A new Apple patent suggests a new display of innovation, which might even work outdoors

The shape of future Macs, or possibly iPads...

Touchscreens are the future, right? So who needs a physical keyboard? If a new patent is any indication, Apple could be planning a portable device consisting of two displays, one of which could function as a virtual keyboard or other types of interface — think a Touch Bar expanded to full screen size.

Specialist website Patently Apple ( patentlyapple.com) reported on the patent granted to Apple by the US Patent and Trademark Office at the end of February. The patent illustrates a dual-display notebook that eliminates a physical keyboard and trackpad entirely. Instead, the secondary display can function as a virtual OLED keyboard — or, even more excitingly, become a sketch pad, or present the full custom controls for a game. Potentially, the controls and interface could transform completely to suit whatever activity you wanted to do at the time.

Instead of a permanent hinge, the patent includes the possibility of a magnetic connector, which could mean a detachable accessory for an iPad rather than a future notebook.

A significant part of the patent deals with using “polarizer layers” to help reduce any possible reflections of the light of one screen on the other, which might also enable the user to view the screens outdoors while wearing sunglasses.

As ever, the granting of a patent does not guarantee that Apple will ever be shipping a product based upon this technology. But we can dream, can’t we?