Apple may be working on a way to mount the iPhone in a MacBook-like enclosure, which could change the way future Cupertino smartphones like the iPhone 13 are used.

A new patent published by Patently Apple shows how the iPhone could fit into the trackpad portion of a MacBook Pro and be used not only as a trackpad but also to power a laptop-like shell. The patent was granted to Apple in September 2018, and the company has filed for its continuation, suggesting that Apple is taking the idea seriously.

Using smartphones to effectively power accessories like laptops is nothing new. We saw gaming hardware company Razer do something very similar with its Project Linda concept, which was unveiled at CES 2018 but has yet to be made into a retail product.

However, Apple has positioned the iPad Pro 2020 with Magic Keyboard accessory as a legitimate laptop replacement. Therefore, if this patent becomes an actual product, Apple risks taking customers away from the iPad series.

At least it would seem that way before Apple revealed at WWDC 2020 that future MacBooks will feature custom ARM-based chips.

These chips have more in common with mobile chipsets like the A13 Bionic silicon in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro than with traditional CPUs like Intel and AMD. Therefore, Apple is likely to position iOS, iPadOS, and macOS more closely at the silicon and architecture level. This means that apps developed for macOS could work on iOS and vice versa without requiring forked versions of the software.

This means that in the near future, iOS could run as usual when the iPhone is used as a smartphone and switch to the desktop version when connected to a laptop accessory. Thus, what might once have seemed like an outlandish Apple patent now seems quite legitimate.

I don't expect this to be ready for the iPhone 12, but by the time the iPhone 13 arrives, Apple may have silicon ready to enable a laptop-like experience on a smartphone. And by 2021, Cupertino should have a developer ecosystem in place that ensures there are plenty of apps that work between macOS and iOS.

A system in which the iPhone can do double duty as a smartphone and a lightweight laptop might appeal to people who don't want to pay for an iPhone and a MacBook Pro. Such a system might also rival the iPad Pro, but could offer a larger display and better keyboard experience than Apple's tablet. The iPad still needs to be compact enough to be used as a table, which somewhat limits its size and thickness.

We will have to wait and see what Apple unveils at the iPhone 12 launch, most likely in September, where the Apple Watch 6 and iMac 2020 could also be revealed. Only then will we get a better idea of the future of the iPhone and where its features may be headed next.