“The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of ten newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“The notable that stands out amongst all is Apple’s first solar powered portable device patent,” Purcher reports. “The patent pertains to all portables from MacBooks to the iPhone. The patent presents methods of adding solar power into the power mix of portables via a voltage converter.”
Purcher reports, “This is Apple’s forth solar powered patent and is now seen as a bona fide emerging trend for future portables.”
Full article here.
This will give your iPad something to do when it has shut down after over-heating in the sun.
(rimshot!!!)
This is a reasonable approach. Solar will inch in rather than be the only source. That should be fly.
MS, Motorola, HTC, Nokia, and Google copy machines are ready!
This will be interesting when Apple turns its giant solar panel on Android devices, frying them with a concentrated beam of solar energy.
@ ChrissyOne
Thanx for the name-drop ! ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”LOL” style=”border:0;” />
OMG! This is HUGE!!! I work in a university library and one of the problems we have is not enough electrical outlets available for students to plug in their laptops. Because this is an old building, some of the outlets were meant for the janitors to plug in their equipment to wax or vacuum the floors. Students have moved tables and chairs closer to these outlets which unfortunately poses a fire or tripping hazard. It would be GREAT if Macbooks could be powered simply by the ambient light in the study areas. Students can get their studying (or video game-playing) done without having to move furniture to areas where they shouldn’t be.
Our nations college campuses are full of tripping hazards.
Thankfully, now we have the joint-rolling app.
Fail. It’s all about liquid batteries.
@chrissyone
Now THAT deserved a rimshot!
This is news? My PowerBook 1400 had a solar panel that slipped into the top lid, or could be detached and positioned on an airplane window with its nifty suction cups. Worked great.
My iPad works great with a 10w solar panel with a nice little switching power supply and a USB cable in a reasonably bright room. It recharges fast in direct sunlight outdoors.
Perhaps solar research will get a big boost with Apple turning it’s eye on this technology.
It is all about making the technology useful …..
Apple’s eye is keen, can’t wait to hear what they have figured out ……
And we are wondering where the next “iPhone or iPad” will come, what will it be, what will Apple make next ???
“could be powered simply by the ambient light in the study areas.”
You are crazy, aren’t you?
‘”This is Apple’s forth solar powered patent and is now seen as a bona fide emerging trend for future portables.”
SB ‘fourth’. No editors MDN?
Maybe it is for their OLPC version of the iPad?
Solar my hind leg, I just open the hood on my pickup, rev up the ole V8, clamp on the jumper cables, and I’m good to go…
@ lukeskymac. I guess you never had a solar panel calculator. Yes, a tiny calculator with about 4 tiny cells could run off of ambient light in a room easily. I’m sure Apple’s products will be light years ahead of that and could, as Davis Machead hopes for, run off of ambient light of a library.