In 1999 Apple launched its PowerBook G3. And said working laptop became an iconic image: The Apple logo on the display lid would light up if the screen was on. And so it was with the rest of the new models that appeared until in 2015 the company decided to turn off said logo.
Said "blackout" was argued with some technical problems. A new patent granted to Apple this week details a new system for backlighting specific areas of a device case. So you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to guess where the shots are going...
The first Apple laptop with its illuminated logo was the third-generation PowerBook G3 released in 1999, and it became an icon of the company that endured in subsequent generations of Apple laptops for 16 years.
In 2015, the company began removing the illuminated logo from its laptops, starting with the ultra-thin 12-inch MacBook. Changed the backlit little apple to a polished metal one, like the ones you see on iPads. In 2016, the new MacBook Pro no light on the logo, until today.
This image may become reality again in the future.
A patent for hope
But this may change again, since last week the US Patent and Trademark Office has published a new patent granted to Apple, which summarizes various implementations of electronic devices with partial mirror structures. retroilluminated, to illuminate a specific area of a device's casing.
This patent explains with hair and signs the operation of the system. Note that the back of a device's case may have a logo. The logo or other device structures may be provided with a partially reflective backlit mirror. The mirror can give the logo or other structures an illuminated appearance while blocking the view of interior components. At the same time, the partial transparency of the mirror allows backlight illumination from inside the device to pass through the mirror.
It is clear, then, that the backlight system is clearly designed to illuminate the bitten apple again. Now it only remains to be seen if said patent becomes a reality. That is another story.