Apple patent describes accessories that turn iPhone or iPad into laptop

An Apple patent application shows two accessories that turn an iPhone or an iPad into a laptop. The idea is that users click the iPhone in place of the touchpad, after which the laptop can only function by using the hardware in the iPhone.

The patent application published Thursday describes two accessories, in both cases the ‘laptop’ is a device with minimal hardware on board. The iPhone has to be clicked in the place of the touchpad, an iPad in the place of the screen. The hardware of the iOS device allows the ‘laptop’ to function.

Apple is not the first with such an idea. Competitor Asus released several generations of its concept Padfone, a phone that could fit in a ‘tablet holder’. Recently, the Superscreen hit its Kickstarter target, a “dumb tablet” that streams the image from a phone to a large touchscreen. HP also has the Lap Dock, an accessory that turns an Elite X3 smartphone with Windows 10 Mobile into a laptop through the presence of a laptop housing, screen, keyboard and battery.

Although Apple has been working on the tech, AppleInsider says it’s unlikely that such a product will appear anytime soon. The manufacturer put a touchscreen on its laptops for the first time last year with the Touch Bar and it is positioning its iPad Pro line as a laptop replacement.