AppleWorld Today:
Future Macs may “wake up” when they detect your presence and take action based on exactly where you are. Apple has filed for a patent (number 20170193282) for “presence sensing.”
The “presence-based functionality” method may include operating the Mac in a reduced power state and collecting a first set of data from a first sensor. Based on the first set of data, the computer determines if an object is within a threshold distance of the Mac.
Some interesting possibilities here. Your Mac could rise to a low-power awareness mode when you are nearby, then power up more fully as more criteria are met. I’d like to see my Mac wake up, bring Safari to the front, then update the specific set of tabs I invariably read through every morning, with one set on weekdays (my Loop prep) and a different set on weekends (my feet up, coffee on the porch reading).
Part of the focus of this patent is more efficient power management. Which would react one way to me watching a video, another to my creating content (by typing/clicking), and another to my turning on some music, then running silent.
This doesn’t seem that new or revolutionary. My Nest can tell when I’m home based on motion sensors and speakers and my Macbook can already unlock based on my Apple Watch. This feels like one of those patents of something that already exists by adding some small bit that wasn’t in a prior patent.