A fully glass touchscreen panel with raised, tactile keys
It’s been rumored that Apple is working on a touchscreen keyboard for an upcoming MacBook product, but a recently-filed patent suggests the new keyboard could be more revolutionary than first thought. It seems that Apple doesn’t just want a touchscreen keyboard, but is designing one with raised, tactile keys.
The keys will apparently have haptic feedback beneath the raised glass, which could be the both of best worlds, allowing for a keyboard that's impervious to dust and debris, but with as much tactile feeling as physically possible from a glass screen.
The patent, uncovered by AppleInsider, details a contiguous glass panel with physically raised but unmoving keys, using curved glass techniques, supported by haptic motors to imitate a key press. Alternatively, the keys could use thinner, semi-flexible glass that would slightly depress under normal pressure to simulate a traditional key press.
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