Apple has filed a patent for a keyboard that could potentially revolutionize the way we type. The new patent application, published this week by the US Patent and Trademark Office, shows that Apple is working on a technology that would allow future keyboards to show different symbols depending on context.

Apple’s latest patent application envisions transformative keyboard technology for MacBook

Currently, the backlighting technology in Apple’s MacBook keyboards serves only to make the keys visible in dark environments. The keys themselves are labeled with pre-printed symbols that are static and cannot be changed, and are potentially prone to wear with long-term use.

The patent application published this week addresses these issues by imagining a keyboard where each key has perforations through the top and bottom layers. The backlighting beneath the keyboard would then be able to intelligently illuminate each key to show different symbols and letters. When the keyboard is activated, glyphs for each of the keycaps could appear on the keys due to light emitted through the keycaps from beneath the top surfaces of the keycaps.

The glyphs could appear to float due to individual light sources or displays that are positioned on or under each of the keycaps. All of the light output by the light sources or displays could be directed through the top of the keycaps to generate the glyphs, as compared to conventional keyboards where light typically bleeds between adjacent keycaps or is visible between or below the keycaps.

The patent application also imagines another scenario where the light source is an “array of LEDs such as a display using micro-LED or OLED pixels.” This would be a more advanced implementation of the idea, with additional controls, customization options, and general flexibility. In this scenario, the perforations in the keycaps could correspond in number to the pixels of the display, so that each single pixel of the display could provide light to one single perforation.

This would allow the displays/light sources to be controlled to generate glyphs that are changeable or adjustable between different shapes, letters, colors, symbols, animations, languages, and other features.

Apple’s filing also includes some imagery showing mockups of how this technology could work. The patent application explains that using this construction, the keycaps of the keyboard could be made with materials not typically used in keycaps for conventional keyboards, such as metals including aluminum. This would allow the keycaps to have top surfaces that match the appearance of the housing surfaces of the keyboard surrounding the keycaps, which may also have metal surfaces.

Apple explains its patent as follows

“When the keyboard is activated, however, glyphs for each of the keycaps can appear on the keys due to light emitted through the keycaps from beneath the top surfaces of the keycaps. The glyphs can appear to float due to individual light sources or displays that are positioned on or under each of the keycaps. Thus, all of the light output by the light sources or displays can be directed through the top of the keycaps to generate the glyphs, as compared to conventional keyboards where light typically bleeds between adjacent keycaps or is visible between or below the keycaps.“

“In some embodiments, the light sources or displays can include an array of LEDs such as a display using micro-LED or OLED pixels. The perforations in the keycaps can correspond in number to the pixels of the display so that, for example, each single pixel of the display can provide light to one single perforation. In this manner, the displays/light sources can be controlled to generate glyphs that are changeable or adjustable between different shapes, letters, colors, symbols, animations, languages, and other features.”

It is important to note that this is simply a patent application and there is no guarantee that this technology will be developed or released. However, the filing shows that Apple is constantly considering new technologies and is working to advance its keyboard technology in order to provide users with a more advanced and convenient typing experience.

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Recently, we had reported on rumors that suggested that Apple might be planning on removing the Touch Bar from its MacBook Pro lineup entirely. While the next gen MacBook is still a while away, a new concept render has just surfaced, which replaces the Touch Bar with a Pencil dock.

According to a PatentlyApple report, the US Patent and Trademark Office published a new patent from the Cupertino based giant that depicts a MacBook Pro with a Pencil dock rather than a Touch Bar. This dock is housed exactly where a Touch Bar would be placed, which is right above the keyboard. The dock is also built into the laptop so it can be closed while a Pencil is placed there. Apparently, the Pencil dock could also have the company replace the Top F key row with the functional symbols being illuminated on the Pencil itself.

Furthermore, designer Sarang Sheth (Via 9To5Mac) made 3D concept render models of this patent to showcase the design in more detail. Looking at these renders, one can observe that the new MacBook Pro would features touch gestures with the inclusion of the Pencil but it will also feature a much smaller version of the Touch Bar for Siri and quick access to certain applications as well.

Unfortunately, this is still just a patent as of right now and we have no way of knowing if Apple is actually planning on having a Pencil dock on its next gen MacBook Pro models. Although, it does confirm that the iPhone maker has considered the idea of removing the Touch Bar in favor of another system. So stay tuned for more updates.

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Apple is expected to launch its latest MacBook Pro model later this summer. The new high end notebook from the company was rumored to sport an upgraded M1 processor and arrive with a new design that drops the Touch Bar feature. Now, DSSC analysts have backed the claims of the brand might be dropping the Touch Bar from the new 2021 MacBook Pros.

The news from Display Supply Chain Consultants (Via 9To5Mac) also added that the Cupertino based giant will launch an iPad with a 10.9 inch OLED display panel next year. Furthermore, DSSC stated that the Touch Bar will be dropped for a traditional function row. It explained that the Touch Bar is the third largest use of OLED displays from the company but sources have indicated that the iPhone maker will “cancel the Touch Bar” in a future MacBook Pro model.

DSSC added that the “Touch Bars continue to be the #3 application with a 18% unit share and 1.2% revenue share in Q1 2021. We expect Touch Bars to be exceeded by tablets when Apple starts the adoption of the 10.9 inch AMOLED iPad. Further, our sources suggest that Apple may cancel the Touch Bar in the future.” For those unaware, the controversial Touch Bar feature was first introduced back in 2016.

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Apple is expected to launch newly redesigned MacBooks next year, most probably powered by the company’s own Apple Silicon chipset. Now, ahead of that, a new patent application by the Cupertino-giant has been published by the US Patent & Trademark Office.

It reveals that Apple has filed a patent for a new Touch Bar which is almost the same as the current one, but it features Force Touch technology that can identify touch pressure on the screen to perform different actions.

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The force touch technology, first appeared in Apple Watch, was introduced in MacBook trackpad in 2015. The company had also introduced it in the iPhone 6s as 3D Touch but was later discontinued.

Currently, it is now known how Apple is planning to have users use this force touch on the MacBook’s Touch Bar. For those who are unaware, Touch Bar is a small interactive OLED strip on top of the keyboard on the MacBook Pro models.

This new patent from Apple confirms that the Touch Bar is here to stay, at least for the MacBook Pro models for the foreseeable future, even though many users dislike this new addition because of accidental touches and many users consider it to not be much useful.

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