The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has officially granted Apple a patent for a system that enables users wearing future Apple smartglasses or Vision Pro (Visionware) devices to work on a MacBook, iPad, or even an iPhone in a private mode. This system ensures that the content displayed on the device screen is hidden from others, while the user can still view it clearly through their AR device.
According to Apple’s patent, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the display of the external device can only be seen by the user who is wearing a head-mounted system, such as smart glasses or Vision Pro. This feature offers privacy by allowing the user to interact with a MacBook without others seeing the screen’s content (e.g., emails, documents, or apps). For example, the figure shows a scenario where the user, wearing a head-mounted system (#450), works on a MacBook (#400) in private mode, editing a confidential document that only appears on the AR device’s display (#452).
In FIGS. 3B and 3C, the patent further describes a setup where an external device, such as an iPhone or iPad (#300), can be paired with a head-mounted system. This system allows the user to view the content on the external device through transparent displays in combination with virtual elements, like a graphical user interface (GUI), providing a seamless experience that blends physical and virtual views.