Apple company has used many marketing strategies down the years, with many remembering the ‘Think Different’ campaign. Even though it’s no longer exist, it looks like Apple’s MacBook team still has that skills.
Removing the physical keyboard from the macOS laptops would certainly be different and amazing Apple product.
The details come in one of Apple’s recently published patents. Titled ‘Configurable Force-Sensitive Input Structure for Electronic Devices’ (via Patently Apple), it proposes ways that would do away with the physical moving keyboard, replacing it with a smooth surface that would sense the users touch (and force).
Here’s the summary of the patent released by Apple:
“A configurable, force-sensitive input structure for an electronic device is disclosed. The input structure has a metal contact layer, a sense layer positioned below the metal contact layer, and a drive layer capacitively coupled to the sense layer.
The input structure may also have a compliant layer positioned between and coupled to the sense layer and the drive layer, a rigid base layer positioned below the drive layer, and a set of supports positioned between the metal contact layer and the rigid base layer.”
I can guess the reaction by the keyboard crew on how they would deal with a laptop with ‘no keyboard’, but its worth meaningful just how many ‘flat’ keyboards there are being used on a daily business, including pretty much every smartphone and majority of tablets.
There are a number of benefits to creating this expansive touch surface on a MacBook. You would not be limited the standard keyboard; it would be a simple matter to switch to a different language or keyboard, you could have a specialist keyboard for working with video editing software, DJ’s could work with virtual turntables sliders, the canvas is huge.
