Many people don't realise that patent and design publications can be a great source of insight into future trends.

I have written about this previously in the context of the automotive space. Examples include future technology by Tesla and new model design by BMW.

Today we have an example from Apple. A patent application published last week suggests that they are contemplating building wireless charging technology into MacBooks. If it makes it to production, this would allow you to charge your iPhone simply by placing it on your MacBook.

If you're interested, why not have a look at the published patent application itself? A quick skim through the figures should allow you to see what they might be contemplating.

For more on how you can search patents to inform business decisions, see this earlier post.