A new means a new year for tech companies to show off or introduce new products. As the tech market becomes more competitive, tech manufacturers are working on stepping up their offerings as much as they could. According to recent patent sighting and reports, Apple is gearing up for solar-powered MacBooks featuring two-sided display, rear touch inputs and a whole lot more. What should people expect this year from the tech giant?

Specifically, AppleInsider reported about U.S. Patent No. 8,638,549 for an "Electronic device display module" under Apple. According to the patent, the technology deals with a two-sided glass laptop display housing featuring the standard screen on the front. The striking feature, however, is on the rear. The unit features photovoltaic cells for solar charging on the back. The rear also features sensors for touch input and secondary display.

It was noted in the patent document that the two-sided display can be produced through a range of materials. These materials include fiber composites, ceramic, metal and glass. In a number of the components, the back of the display may be made of eletrochromic glass. This lets the light pass only when preferred. People can control the amount of light passing through the device.

Similar to the existing lineup of MacBook, the logo can be found on the back of the housing. The logo is also illuminated through a similar LED lighting used on the front display. However, different from the current models that could sport the translucent plastic Apple logo under the display chassis, the patent features a logo screen out from the patterned ink layer.

As it was mentioned, in one of the renders, the rear panel sports eletrochromic glas - this is sometimes called as electrically switchable glass. The material becomes transluscent to transparent is exposed to a voltage. This hides the rear-facing display until the user activates it.

Apple has also proposed a photovoltaic system that can be used on both the front-facing and real panel LCD screen. If the company can incorporate these patents to its upcoming offerings then Apple will be setting new standards for the industry. It will be interesting to find out what Apple will be announcing in the coming months.