A patent application filed by Apple hints at the company’s latest plan to bypass design limitations and shrink their devices even more.
While the technology company strives to develop increasingly lighter and thinner products, certain components limit how thin and light the company can make their devices. One such component is the cooling fan, an essential thermal management tool in virtually all Apple desktop and laptop computers. The issue with cooling fans, says Geek is that the smaller they become, the faster they must spin in order to create the same air flow to move heat away from sensitive components. However, as cooling fans spin faster, they generate more noise—another problem Apple seeks to solve.
Apple’s new patent application details a fan that is both smaller and quieter than those found in current Apple products. The company reportedly achieved this by designing a fan that steadies itself when vibratory forces are applied to it. If the vibration exceeds a certain predetermined level, the thrust bearing within the fan acts as a stabilizer and prevents the noise from getting louder. Noise generation is also limited by the “wireless” method used to make the fan move: a magnetic interaction between magnetic placed in the impeller cause the impeller to rotate.
Though the patent application has yet to be granted at this time, consumers will likely see this new cooling fan technology in an upcoming Macbook or iMac release.
