Apple announced its new MacBook Pro last year, the first with a new design, high performance thanks to the M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsets, and even a high refresh rate display. Now, a patent shows that the brand can bring another change in the future, removing the sound outlets positioned on the sides of the keyboard to make the MacBook Pro even smaller.
It has already managed to reduce the size of the edges around the screen of the new MacBooks Pro, but it had to add a notch at the top of the panel to store the front camera. Now, the brand can simply take out the grilles for the speakers, making them the width of the keyboard, basically, just like it did with the 2015 12-inch MacBook.
However, the strategy for this may be different than simply placing a speaker under the keyboard, as the brand has obtained a patent that proposes an interesting alternative. The idea is to maintain good sound quality while improving aesthetics and other features.
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As a speaker generates vibrations to make the sound, and during use there is constant physical contact with the keyboard and other parts of the notebook, the quality can be compromised. The brand’s solution consists of a set of speakers that can be attached to the computer chassis by means of a spring element, which should reduce the transmission of vibrations from the speaker to other components.
In this way, it is possible for Apple to hide the speaker inside the computer, under the keyboard, and not have excessive vibrations through the MacBook body. So typing, for example, should not affect what is being played. The brand puts in the patent that a solution like this can also be used on a television or other portable devices, such as a tablet, smartphone or even smartwatch.
As this is a patent, there is no guarantee that Apple will use the technology in a product, being just a way for the company to protect itself from competitors using it. That is, we will have to wait to see if this will reach future products or not.
