Smartphone computers are right around the corner.  

Every patent filed by Apple is watched closely.  Most of the time it’s not worth a front page headline. 

But today it is.  Apple has patented what hopefully will be the newest MacBook.  One powered by an iPhone.  

Even the sketch is making Apple aficionados drool.  

Looks as though the screen and keyboard will be an ‘attachment’ for the phone, and will be “inoperable without the host device”.  

A few questions I have:

1) Will there be an app in the iPhone that will act as the operating system?  Because we already have a laptop sized iPhone.  It’s called the iPad.  

2) Will the screen be touchscreen?  It looks like the phone fits right where the mouse touch usually is.  Will it allow for a Bluetooth mouse?

Or- the iPhone could control the mouse like a touchpad…now I’m drooling.  

Here’s the text filed with the sketch:

An electronic accessory device, comprising: an operational component that provides an output to a user; a housing carrying the operational component, the housing having a recess; and a control interface coupled to the operational component and configured to receive a control signal from an electronic host device when the electronic host device is positioned within the recess and coupled to the control interface, wherein the electronic accessory device is inoperable without the electronic host device being coupled to the control interface.