Where does Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) look for its next big thing? We’ve heard all kinds of suggestions from analysts over the last year or two, with most focusing on the rumored iTV and iWatch or a payments system. Now JPMorgan analysts have a new suggestion, which they came up with from examining some of the patents Apple has applied for over the last few years.

Apple iAnywhere would create docking stations

The idea isn’t really that revolutionary, but the new category, which analyst Mark Moskowitz calls “iAnywhere,” would basically expand the capabilities of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iDevices. The idea is that users could plug an iPhone or iPad into a docking station and suddenly have a fully functioning computer. When the device is plugged into the docking display, it would then be able to run Mac applications, thus converging the company’s two operating systems.

Moskowitz sees Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) generating revenue by selling the “specially configured displays” or docking stations, plus iPhones and iPads with iAnywhere capability and “cloud-based software and storage devices.”

iPhone 5S, iPad use 64-bit processor

According to Moskowitz, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s switch to a 64-bit chip in the iPhone and iPad, which is of desktop class, could be a step in the move toward converging its Mac and iOS operating systems. After all, those chips should be strong enough to power the bigger Mac applications. And when adding that chip to the patents Apple has filed, he sees an even greater chance at the shift he is predicting becoming reality.

He notes that executives have said they want to keep the two operating systems separate and believes that Apple will probably continue to do so. However, he said that this would basically bring them together while keeping them separate.

When might we see iAnywhere?

The analyst predicts that this concept which actually surface in the next 12 to 18 months and suggest that it could debut along with a bigger iPad with a dedicated keyboard. We’ve already heard plenty of rumors that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is working on that bigger iPad.

Of course he does note that there would be some cannibalization risks associated with his iAnywhere idea, but he said the sale of multiple peripherals should more than offset those risks.