Apple Patents Promise Fuel Cells Give Notebook Computers Battery Life

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(Free-Press-Release.com) December 23, 2011 -- Apple Patents Promise Fuel Cells Give Notebook Computers Battery Life

Today we’re lucky if a laptop can last six or seven hours. But what if, in a few years, notebook computers could have an uptime of days or weeks? That’s what Apple may be hoping to accomplish with a new patent. The filing shows plans to bring fuel cell power to MacBooks.

Apple appears to be looking at the possibility of powering notebooks using hydrogen fuel cells – potentially giving them a battery life of weeks.

It’s applied for two patents entitled titled ‘Fuel Cell System to Power a Portable Computing Device’ and ‘Fuel Cell System Coupled to a Portable Computing Device’.

These describe how fuel cells could be built into electronics devices and managed to optimize performance while keeping weight down.

A fuel cell is a device that uses a chemical reaction to convert chemical energy from a fuel into electricity. Bringing fuel cells to a portable computer has numerous obstacles in cost and portability, but Apple has a plan. Its method would use a hydrogen fuel cell in combination with a standard notebook battery — the fuel cell would both draw power from and provide power to the battery, creating a symbiotic relationship that would give the MacBook unreal battery life (or hydrogen life perhaps?).

Apple’s filing takes on a bit of a socio-political tone, as it details the United States’ current dependence on unstable Middle East countries for oil. It uses this to segue into the need for renewable resources, which transitions into the benefits of fuel cell power in laptops. While we have no doubt that fuel cells can help to reduce dependence on foreign oil, the huge sales potential of a laptop that lasts for weeks on a single charge might also have something to do with Apple’s interest.

This isn’t the first time that Apple has shown interest in fuel cell tech. Another Apple patent filing, uncovered in October, proposed a method of building a more efficient fuel cell by connecting them in parallel connection to a power bus.

The idea of using fuel cells for portable devices has been around for some time – Hitachi produced a methanol-based prototype back in 2003, for example. But while most existing versions are designed as separate charging devices, Apple’s planning to incorporate them right into the laptop itself.

As with all Apple patent filings, you won’t want to hold your breath on seeing it on store shelves. The company is known for patenting a thousand ideas for every one that makes it into a product. Even if fuel cells end up powering future MacBooks, we’re looking at years — if not a decade — before we actually see it.

Source: http://blog.batteryfast.co.uk/apple-patents-promise-fuel-cells-give-macbooks-battery-life/

battery life     fuel cells     macbooks