It’s great news for long-time MacBook users. Apple laptops are renowned for their performance, but the company also brought back many features that customers longed to, such as an SD card reader, MagSafe, on MacBooks, and the ability to store data from a USB stick. Startup chime. Now we’re hearing about yet another feature that Apple could revive: the illuminated Apple logo.
According to a patent application discovered by Patently Apple, Apple is working on “A backlit partially reflective mirror [that] may be used to form a logo or other structure in an electronic device.” And based on the contents of the patent document, this technology could be used for a glowing Apple logo on the lid of a MacBook.
Apple discontinued using the illuminated Apple logo on the MacBook in 2015. While Apple didn’t give any reason for the change, some speculate it’s because of manufacturing costs, while others feel like it was done for design reasons (i.e. To make the display thinner. However, many Mac users still love this feature and hope it will be back.
This new illuminated Apple logo wouldn’t just be the glowing white logo from the past brought back, but a modernized version of it. Patent description includes a reflective mirror that would shine the logo with a backlight and block the view from the lid. The mirror could be a “neutral color such as light gray or may have a non-neutral color such as gold.”
Apple might have more plans for logo tech than just laptops. The patent states that the technology can be used on a laptop, but also “a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player…a wristwatch…a headphone or earpiece device, a head-mounted device such as eyeglasses [or goggles],” and more. That sure seems like generic references to the iMac, iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple’s yet-to-be-released VR/AR headset, respectively.
