Apple has been exploring the prospect of an iPod model with a unified enclosure similar to the “unibody” MacBook and MacBook Pro computers, an patent filing discovered by MacNN disclosed today. In the course of discussing the design, which would use inexpensive, cost-saving sheet metal “formed in such a way that the final part looks like it was machined down from a large thick slab of material,” Apple offers a roughly sketched example of an iPod classic that features the same sharp, seamless body lines as the third-generation iPod shuffle and metal MacBooks, while preserving the screen, Click Wheel, headphone port, and Hold switch placement found in fifth- and sixth-generation hard disk-based iPods. Notably, even the substantially aluminum current-generation iPod nanos still rely on plastic top and bottom pieces, and no full-sized iPod has previously done away with the polished steel housing originally developed by Apple for the 2001 first-generation model. As with all Apple patents, this filing does not necessarily represent any future product release from Apple, but offers evidence of the company’s research in this area.
Jeremy Horwitz
Jeremy Horwitz was the Editor-in-Chief at iLounge. He has written over 5,000 articles and reviews for the website and is one of the most respected members of the Apple media. Horwitz has been following Apple since the release of the original iPod in 2001. He was one of the first reviewers to receive a pre-release unit of the device, and his review helped put iLounge on the map as a go-to source for Apple news.