Almost 15 years ago, Patently Apple posted their first report on a possible cellular MacBook in a report titled "Apple Introduces us to the Telephonic MacBook." In total there were 18 patent reports on cellular MacBooks with the last one surfacing in 2017 in a report titled "Apple Granted a Patent for Future MacBooks with Cellular Connectivity Antennas Built-In the Cover Hinge."

Years later I visited an Apple store and asked one of the senior staff why Apple wasn't offering cellular connectivity on MacBooks. The answer was simple; because we want you to buy an iPad and a MacBook." Right, forget what customers want, just do what's good for your bottom line.  Life moves on and the patents on this subject matter completely dried up.

In December 2024, some eight years later, Apple told Mark Gurman why the project may be back on the table. It came down to Apple's new in-house modems. Gurman noted that " With its own modem in the pipeline, Apple is investigating the idea of bringing cellular connectivity to the Mac for the first time." Investigating? Ha! They have a series of patents on this very project. So it's a littme more than investingating. Gurman went on to state that Apple was looking at a possible MacBook over the next several years. More specifically he pointed to 2026 at the earliest when Apple's faster second generation modem would be coming to market.

Really big Apple projects like the iPad, iPhone and HMDs usually have a decade's worth of patents protecting their devices before going to market. The cellular MacBook is now in it's fifteen year.

Now the Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern has deciding to get in on coaxing Apple on – knowing it's at least on the drawing board once again.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Joanna Stern (@joannastern)

Thanks for asking Joanna. Yes, I've been waiting for 15 years. If you'd like to see this project come to market, drop a comment on our X site.