In 2016, before Apple introduced inductive charging for their premium 2017 iPhones, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that covered inductive charging between iOS devices and even through to a MacBook Pro as noted in the patent figures above.

Today a continuation patent surfaced covering this invention by way of adding new patent claims to further protect their invention which could be a hit with consumers when this feature is made available. One particular claim was an eye-opener.

The knockout revelation was revealed in Apple's patent claim #6 that basically describes the MacBook Pro display being a touch display. Apple notes that when the user is charging an iDevice using the MacBook Pro's trackpad, where one of the inductive charging coils happen to reside, that the user could still use their MacBook Pro's by using the touch display to receive inputs.

Apple's Patent Claim #6 specifically states that: The portable electronic device of claim 4, wherein the display is a touch sensitive display configured to receive inputs for the track pad in response to a determination that the track pad is providing inductive power to the external electronic device.

The revelation found in the new patent claim #4 contradicts Apple's current stance that they'll never, ever add touch to a Mac display.

A few other new patent claims include the following:

Patent Claim #4: The portable electronic device of claim 3, wherein the first inductive coil is disposed underneath the track pad and configured to provide inductive power to, or receive inductive power from, the external electronic device through the track pad.

Patent Claim #5: The portable electronic device of claim 4, further comprising a second inductive coil positioned within the main body, wherein the second inductive coil is disposed underneath the first region of the top side of the main body, and configured to provide inductive power to, or receive inductive power from, the external electronic device through the first region.

Patent Claim #7: The portable electronic device of claim 3, wherein the first region of the top side of the main body is positioned beside the track pad, and the first inductive coil is disposed below the first region of the top side of the main body beside the track pad.

Patent Claim #8: The portable electronic device of claim 7, further comprising a second region of the top side of the main body positioned beside the track pad opposite of the first region.

Patent Claim #9: The portable electronic device of claim 8, further comprising a third inductive coil positioned within the main body, wherein the third inductive coil is disposed underneath the second region of the top side of the main body, and configured to provide inductive power to, or receive inductive power from, the external electronic device through the second region.

To review more of Apple's patent figures and details of the original patent application, see our 2016 patent report here.

You could read all of Apple's new patent claims in continuation patent #20180212455. Apple's revision to their original patent application was filed four months ago in March 2018 and published today by USPTO. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.

For the record, Apple was granted a patent for a iMac Touch on Tuesday.

One more thing on a different patent: On July 21 Patently Apple discovered a patent in Europe describing a personal driving profile for controlling a future autonomous car. Today the patent titled "Comfort Profiles" has surfaced in the U.S. under patent application # 20180208209. Patently Apple fans got to review Apple's invention ahead of time.

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