Apple is working on new hardware that combines features of the iPad and MacBook, a patent filing suggests, according to Digital Spy.

The document, filed with the US patent office, appears to depict a hybrid device with a detachable screen that draws power wirelessly from the base unit.

"When the display is at least in one position with respect to the base, the power source transmits power to the power transition member of the display," the filing explains.

The patent indicates that Apple is exploring the possibility of combining its iPad and MacBook products, but CEO Tim Cook has dismissed this notion in the past.

"Anything can be forced to converge, but the problem is that products are about tradeoffs, and you begin to make tradeoffs to the point where what you have left doesn't please anyone," he told CNET in a 2012 interview.

"You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user."

Apple is widely believed to working on brand new products at present, including the rumoured iOS-powered smartwatch.