Delve into Apple's past history and examine how Macs were integrated into keyboards

Apple’s Magic Keyboard may one day get even more amazing, and possibly a bit thicker, as the company looks into how to fit the entire Mac into the keyboard.

Steve Jobs put a lot of emphasis on how the small Mac mini could become a BYODKM, or bring-your-own-monitor, keyboard and mouse device. Now it looks like Apple is considering cutting this back even further, until you just have to bring your own display.

An "Input Device in a Computer" is a newly disclosed patent application that proposes an entire Mac the size of a keyboard. There will also be a keyboard.

Reminiscent of countless computers from the 1980s, such as the Apple II, Vic 20, and Sinclair QL, the computer built under this patent application looks just like a keyboard. It would be bigger or taller than the current Apple Magic Keyboard, but probably not that much.

"The strong demand for portable computing devices that simultaneously provide high performance," the patent application states, "has driven the miniaturization and size reduction of the once bulky computing components used to power and drive the devices."

"Components such as processors, batteries, memory, integrated circuits," it continued, "are now being manufactured in smaller footprints to provide lightweight, thin portable computing devices."

Apple believes that it is therefore possible and desirable to "further customize the case design, shape, and configuration to provide additional or enhanced device functionality."

That's really the gist of the entire patent application, as much of its 130,000-plus words details methods for ventilating such a keyboard to keep the components cool.

However, there are multiple references mentioning making this device more portable. For example, Apple says "the computing device can fold around its axis."

On the other hand, "users may want the device... to have a wireless Internet connection, [which[could include a cellular antenna]."

This is a component that really cares portion of the available space, rather than something about a specific component. It does argue, though, what they don't have to be: a display of itself.

"This device configuration allows users to carry a single computing device," Apple said, "which can provide a desktop computing experience anywhere with one or more computer monitors."

The The patent application is attributed to three inventors, including Brett W. Degner. His previous related work includes a patent for building an iMac from a single piece of glass.

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