Apple’s New Patent Unfurls The Touchscreen iMac Secret

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There has been much ado about an Apple patent application published as Patently Apple that introduces a new genre of Mac systems. According to the patent Apple’s new device will be able to switch between mouse-driven input for Mac OS X and touch-based input for iOS. This model won’t resemble the existing touchsreen desktops like HP’s TouchSmart line or Lenovo’s IdeaCenter line.

Patently Apple looks to merge Apple’s existing touch UI like in the iPhone and iPad with the typical Mac OS used in Macbook and iMac line. It uses a build in accelerometer that would sense what has been moved from the desktop to a tablet and switch the interface accordingly. The device would function as a traditional desktop computer when the  screen is positioned vertically and work as large tablet style device in horizontal position. An apt nomenclature for the device could be “Touchscreen iMac”.

For Apple this would be merely a transition between input modes but it is not clear if that means the entire OS would switch from Mac OS to iOS. It would just enable the touch sensitivity. Practically its difficult to switch over your work within two operating systems Mac OS and iOS. Further, it’s  question whether the two OSes will run parallel. It remains to answered whether iOS will make sense for a device that has a screen as big as the iMac’s.

From the first impression the touhscreen iMac running Mac OS and iOS simultaneously seems a distant reality. What can be the reason for filing a patent? Apple might just be protecting the IP or it might be an experiment that went far along enough to warrant a patent. It’s an innovative concept, in which Apple perhaps is in a right position to create a unique product.