Apple patent stuffs two ports into one, saves space in your laptop

Port space is very limited on laptops, but Apple has just received a patent that could solve that problem in the simplest way possible: cramming two ports into one. Expanding on what we've seen with some multi-format card readers, Apple has designed a layered port whose staggered electrical contacts and overall shape let it accept two different connectors. While the company uses the combination of a USB port and SD card reader as its example, the patent could theoretically apply to any two technologies that make sense together. The real question is whether or not Apple will use its invention at all. The Mac maker has a few slim portables that could use some expansion, but there's no evidence that the company will tweak its computer designs in the near future.

Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals, Apple

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Source: USPTO