The rumor of a touchscreen iMac got a boost today with a report out of China that Apple is buying samples from at least one of the top manufacturers. According to DigiTimes, Sintek Photronics has sent samples of “projected capacitive touch panels” to Apple to be incorporated in the latest iMac all-in-one (AIO) PC. The brief report didn’t mention any expected shipping date of an actual desktop computer with a touchscreen. The idea that Apple is looking to implement multitouch screens on its desktop and laptop computers has been around for a while, going back as far as January, when we were told that Apple would be shipping a 22-inch touchscreen iMac by the second half of this year. Since that obviously didn’t happen, a second round of rumors was spread in June about Apple switching its desktop and laptop computers over to iOS, which was bolstered by a patent which was revealed in August describing technology that would allow a computer to switch from Mac OS X when vertical to iOS when it was horizontal.

Today’s report didn’t talk about OSes at all, instead it focused on the manufacturing aspect. Large touchscreens (all over 20 inches diagonal) are very complex and expensive to build and Digitimes specifically points to Sintek’s advanced production facilities as a reason for Apple going with that manufacturer. The panels are produced by placing a fine grid of capacitive sensors on the LCD panel with glass on top of that, bonded together in what DigiTimes refers to as a “one-glass” design. The rumor should be taken with a grain of salt, as predictions are not always accurate but Apple has put too many resources into multitouch with iOS and products like the Magic Trackpad, to stay with the mouse and keyboard forever.

As usual, stay tuned for more news and info on the topic by following us on Twitter and/or subscribe to our RSS feed.

Source: AppleInsider

Authors: _GadgetNews

to know more click here