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In his spare time, Braz de Pina, the main product designer at Microsoft, comes with some fantastic hardware concepts that we want were real, and shares these on his website and behavior and instagram pages.
Although he came with the A_77 Compact Laptop concept over a year ago, I have only just stumbled over it and would share the device with everyone else who may have missed it.
A_77 started life as a simple 3D model of a small keyboard. They then added a screen and gates, and eventually the model shaped a fully realized laptop.
Copilot key
The process gave the unit an unusual shape that looks very different from traditional design.
The keyboard itself is the defining element. It has a layout of 65% with function keys along the top, an oversized escape wrench and a light orange on / off button.
A copilot key sits next to the room rod (although this is not an official Microsoft product, he works there, so a copilot key would always be part of the design), while a ThinkPad style nub under the ENTER key offers cursor control.
Speakers sit along the lower edge and get the most out of the compact frame.
The screen, as the Pina says are touch -enabled, does not adhere to standard format conditions such as 16: 9. Instead, it looks like an enlarged smartphone screen, giving the device an unconventional but still practical format.
This choice, paired with the small footprint, makes the laptop feel both portable and accessible.
A_77’s appearance is where it breaks most from the current design trends.
Instead of metallic finishes, it uses plastic in fat colors including yellow, blue and white.
Fans put the sides and back, and four USB-C ports are split evenly over both edges.
Its compact size makes it easy to imagine wearing a jacket pocket, and USB-C charging would remove the need for a voluminous external charger.
While it is only a concept, A_77 shows how laptops can be reimbursed to carry personality as well as function, something that I would personally love to see much more of.
Via Yanko design
