Convenient Way to Get to Ports on Back of All in One Computer

Apple wants to combine your computer's ports into an all-in-one slot

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Apple is known for slimming down its hardware and removing anything it feels can be avoided. The company was one of the first to begin the push away from optical media. Now, in line with its design ideology of slimming down on buttons and ports and replacing them with a flat, sleek exterior, Apple has filed a patent to combine the standard USB slot with the standard SD card slot into a single new hybrid port.

The case of combining ports into hybrid slots is not quite one of necessity. Obviously, for as long as we've had electronic devices, we've had multiple ports, but just because we're used to something — and that something seems simple — doesn't mean it shouldn't be revised. Slotting your SD card into an SD slot while plugging your phone into the USB port isn't exactly difficult, but combining the two slots into one allows for a little more flexibility on the user's end, as well as on the designer's end. The patent was filed back in 2011, and is listed as a "combined input port." Though the patent mentions a combination USB and SD card reader port, the goal isn't specifically limited to those two types of input. The ideology behind the construction of the port is actually quite simple.

Rather than some kind of converter, the port could simply have both, for example, USB and SD card contacts contained within. However, they would be placed at different depths within the port. So, the USB contacts could be the shallow contacts up front, while the SD card would push in farther toward the back, avoiding the USB connectors, hitting the deeper SD card contacts. Along with the multiple-contact setup, the ports would also require multiple doors or notches in order to secure the attached cable or card so it doesn't slide out while in use.

Now, if Apple combined a USB port and an SD card reader into one slot, that likely wouldn't mean that future MacBook Pros will only have one available slot — we'll still need multiple concurrent connections. This probably means that we won't lose the number of ports on actual hardware, but that they'll just turn into multiple protocol ports, increasing the available amount of different port types.

Similar ideas have already been implemented in hardware, such as the eSATAp port, which combines USB and sSATA, but there aren't too many examples of Apple's combined port idea found in the wild. All-in-one card readers may seem like one at first, but those are just boxes with a bunch of different slots.

If Apple does bring the port to its hardware, it would not only make peripheral and flash storage life a little more convenient for users, but could also slim down hardware. Granted, though, users would likely prefer multiple combo ports than the removal of two separate ports for the addition of one combo port.

Now read: Do you own your genes, or can Big Pharma patent them?

Convenient Way to Get to Ports on Back of All in One Computer

Source: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/159860-apple-wants-to-combine-your-computers-ports-into-an-all-in-one-slot

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