Apple gets patent for Macbook Air

Mashable reports that Apple has just been granted some patents for the design of the Macbook Air which might affect on the ultrabook market.

The first thing that came to mind was the Asus Zenbook which got its inspiration from from the Macbook Air.

We wrote a review of the Zenbook UX31 here, and noted that there are striking similarities with the Macbook Air.

We also have a side by side comparison of the Macbook Air and Asus Zenbook here.

Intel has promised up to 70+ ultrabooks to come out this year so this will be interesting to follow.

I’m not sure what or how this will affect the production and future designs of other ultrabooks in the market. This patent might just end up the debate on who’s copying who.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

18 Comments

Gwapito says:

13 years ago

It’s also possible that Mac laptops copied other laptop designs.
- Reply
Lani Garcia says:

13 years ago

No need to sue Asus as Pegatron agreed not to manufacture their ultrabooks anymore in light of the pressure from Apple, in exchange for their iPhone manufacturing contract.

Asus would need to find another OEM. Too bad as only the Zenbook was giving the Air some competition in that area last year.
- Reply
Dippin Slash says:

13 years ago

There’s nothing new with Apple getting a new patent.
- Reply
pong says:

13 years ago

I don’t think asus is in any danger as long as they run on windows OS.

apple and microsoft had an agreement to not to sue each other.

apple and microsoft are battling google in patents because they dont like the concept of “free”. so the only ones in danger here are the chrome notebooks
- Reply
al says:

13 years ago

The design patent was for the rubber feet.

read;
http://mobile.theverge.com/2012/2/16/2803625/patent-macbook-air-feet-apple
- Reply
Robin Lim says:

13 years ago

Look at the actual patent images. Basically, the patent covers the front rubber feet of MacBooks.
- Reply
GhostHunter says:

13 years ago

I think the Acer S3/S5 ultrabook has a more similar look to the MBA.

Should Acer worry?
- Reply
thepinoyhenyo says:

13 years ago

haha… if that’s the case, all computer designs should be patented as well… and also laptops…
- Reply
camhiliciouz says:

13 years ago

looking at the brighter side of this issue. bakit kasi kelangan pa look-a-like, kung pwede naman magdesign ng mas makabago.

maybe MBA was already a ripoff of some failed gadgets before, sorry loss for those because MBA is a huge success.

and yun, yun yung main issue dito. dahil successful ang MBA, nandun ang focus ng market.

pity. bakit ka nyo? eh kasi nakikisawsaw nalang ang karamihan when they can actually make their own standouts. sayang. potential wise andun na eh.

think of Galaxy Tabs vs. ipad. kudos for samsung for bombarding the world with various tablet sizes. they may have created the tabs to rival ipad, but they made advancements. (i just hope im making sense, hahaha).

in short, sana new designs, better specs. lower prices.

tapos usapan.
- Reply
Pinoy_ako says:

13 years ago

They just won another battle against Motorolla for the slide to unlock patent. I think Apple has become more aggressive now especially since Moto will soon be acquired by google. In fact, just before the awarding of the patent, Apple had already alerted Pegatron, one of its Taiwanese suppliers to cease production of Asus Zenbooks. Now that is something to worry about.
- Reply
thejorlanb says:

13 years ago

Zenbook looks like a ripoff of MBA, but not all ultrabooks, since Pegatron made MBA and Zenbook. Why is Apple doing this, isnt MBA a ripoff of a failed Sony Vaio product? (X505). Maybe they can say that the unibody design used by Zenbook is a ripoff (and the trackpad too), but design wise, Zenbook really looks better compared to MBA. They can patent the unibody(if they own it) but not the design. If the design is to be patented, then what can you say about the design of monitors? How about the keyboard? Mouse? What should be patented is the technology.

Too sad that this patents doesnt really helps in improving our technology(and protects the inventor)…but rather becomes a money making scheme for companies.
Should i patent my house? Should i patent my son so that no one would copy his looks?
- Reply

roland says:

13 years ago

thats the problem.. others don’t INNOVATE… kumokopya na lang ng design kaya companies like apple would always want a patent rights on their design.

garz says:

13 years ago

Why am I not surprised?
- Reply
Kevin says:

13 years ago

I wonder what the specifics of the patent are that Apple managed to get it approved? From what I understand patents for something obvious or founded on common sense hardly gets approved… or I could be wrong :)
- Reply
BENCHMARK says:

13 years ago

IMO Apple cannot file suit to Asus kasi ngayon lang naapprove yun patent nila sa design…siguro sa mga succeeding design, if kaitsura ng macbook air, thats the only time they can file suit. For now, swerte ang Zenbook.

just my opinion. :)
- Reply

edu says:

13 years ago

I dont think so as Patents don’t behave that way. Just like the slide to unlock Patent for Apple. It was granted just lately yet the injunction of the infringing gadgets from Motorola , HTC and Sammy includes those units that are released before the Patent was Granted. Maybe it’s because they applied the Patent along with the release of the Macbook Air. I might be wrong but I think that’s more likely to happen. IMHO too =)
Iyan Sommerset says:

13 years ago

If it can work that way, a big ha ha to Apple! “We weren’t copying the Air, we were copying the Zenbook!”