Apple Patents Switch-Less Force Touch Keyboard, Could Lead to Thinner Macs

[MagnusVonMagnum]

*almost no sense for you.

Fixed it for you. Because it makes great ergonomic sense on my desktop at work, where I do a lot of text entry but very little numeric entry. Having the mouse just those few inches closer to the centerline of my typing posture is more comfortable and even a little more efficient.

You know, for me. To each their own, and isn't it great that Apple isn't the only company on earth so you have options? How cool is that?

If Apple truly supported "options" they'd stop removing them from each new generation of computer and stop soldering in things like RAM to stop you from saving money doing upgrades yourself, etc. They'd also offer your choice of keyboards for the iMac (either with or without a numeric keypad, etc.)

I often think if Apple had a choice at this stage, they'd make everything incompatible again (seems to be a trend with Apple since Jobs died like the video cards for the Mac Pro that have a custom connector for no good reason what-so-ever, making it impossible to upgrade the cards yourself or use a consumer grade card that's better for gaming or whatever). Apple lightning connector instead of USB-C (honestly I'm shocked they used USB-C on the low-end Macbook; notice how all the other newer machines don't use it bringing into question whether Apple will even support Thunderbolt III over a USB-C connector even though everyone else will. Apple loves selling high-profit dongles for everything, after all and making firmware changes that kill 3rd party unlicensed stuff that sells for a fraction of the licensed connectors (e.g. $6 Mini-Display Port to HDMI cable worked fine until I upgraded from Mavericks to El Capitan and then it died and I had to buy a higher-priced cable that otherwise does the exact same thing).

What I said was the truth. Key travel doesnt matter if you know how to type. I type 80+ wpm regardless of key travel. In fact the argument could be made that fingers dont get tired as fast with shorter keytravel because you dont have to press as hard to register the key input.

The truth for YOU, maybe (as General Chang correctly pointed out to me on my own comments). I've been touch-typing now for 27 years and while I "can" type on cheese-ball keyboards like Apple, that doesn't mean I LIKE them. I can type 100wpm on a cheeseball keyboard. I can type 120+ WPM on a spring-loaded keyboard. Cheeseball keyboards simply don't support higher speed typing with any kind of accuracy (and no 80WPM is not high speed; I could type that by 9th grade for god's sake; I was doing 65WPM by the end of my one semester typing class in 8th grade!) Hell, I had a job doing high-speed data input for awhile in college for $11 an hour in the '90s (beats flipping burgers).

Frankly, if your fingers get tired, you're not much of a typist. Try playing piano and guitar for a few years and see if your fingers and the muscles that drive them don't toughen up a bit.

 

[GeneralChang]

If Apple truly supported "options"...

You must have missed the part where I said Apple isn't the only company on earth. If they are not providing the options that you desire, well, why are you still buying their stuff? That's actually... kinda dumb.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

You must have missed the part where I said Apple isn't the only company on earth. If they are not providing the options that you desire, well, why are you still buying their stuff? That's actually... kinda dumb.

Oh, I dunno, because they won't let other companies sell Mac Clones for one thing....

As for keyboards, I haven't bought any of their keyboards or mice. The last separate Apple keyboard I had was the one that came with my PowerMac Digital Audio. My Macbook Pro and Mac Mini didn't have any (external) keyboards.

In fact, I just got a new keyboard. It's a right nice Chinese one (well so is Apple really) by Aula that can turn three LED colors (red, blue and purple backlit with off, dim, bright and slow pulse modes) plus amazingly the multimedia keys work in OS X (i.e. the F1 shows a mute symbol on it; press the keyboard Fn key and F1 and sure enough, it mutes. Likewise for track control, play/pause and volume control. My only complaint is the enter key is odd shaped with the backslash where the edge of the enter key would normally be (it's like my old Amiga keyboard save the blackslash key being there).

In fact, I just got a new mouse to try too. It's an Etekcity s200 2400 DPI 5-button mouse with a switch underneath to light it up with BLUE LEDS around the outside (looks like a cross between a mouse and the light cycle from TRON). All 5-buttons work automatically in OS X (I set button 5 to activate mission control and button 4 to show app windows for the same app) and at 2400 DPI it's pretty precise (there's a button on it to change the DPI between several different values on the fly as well). Total cost for a backlit mouse and keyboard? $22. Apple couldn't touch that with a ten foot pole. NONE of their external keyboards are backlit (number one disappointment I saw in the recent thread on the new designs). It's why I decided to see what backlit keyboards were out there and this one looked right sweet.

 

[tampageek]

The future of computing, I think, is going to be something like an iPad that can wirelessly connect to any TV or other monitor and change itself into a keyboard / trackpad / tablet / other input device that perfectly matches what the user is doing.

Ultimately the tablet is going to replace the keyboard, not the screen, of the traditional computer. And since it's trivial to connect to any screen in your house, people will find it as convenient as a remote or video game controller and stop thinking about it as something best done in a chair at a desk... it'll be something you can do lounging in a couch or bed.

How about the future of computing being perfecting the performance and battery life of the laptop?

I don't want a tablet that can also bake cookies and mow the lawn for me. I want a laptop that is refined to perfection. Pretty sure if  introduced a 13'' laptop that is thin, fast, HAS more than ONE USB port and SD card slot -AND 15-18 hr battery life, people would be throwing $$$ at them.

 

[ignatius345]

You have to go by what is on the screen to actually know if the key registered or not.

Wrong. On a decent keyboard, I can close my eyes and know my keypress registered. I can hear it because there's some normal amount of sound feedback in the switches in my keyboard (and no, nothing crazy loud is necessary, but have you noticed that even iOS keyboards have feedback sounds built in?), and I can feel it because they have travel and a tactile bump on actuation.

You've gotten used to typing on a crappy keyboard -- awesome. Human hands are very adaptible.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Wrong. On a decent keyboard, I can close my eyes and know my keypress registered. I can hear it because there's some normal amount of sound feedback in the switches in my keyboard (and no, nothing crazy loud is necessary, but have you noticed that even iOS keyboards have feedback sounds built in?), and I can feel it because they have travel and a tactile bump on actuation.

You've gotten used to typing on a crappy keyboard -- awesome. Human hands are very adaptible.

Crappy in your opinion. I know how to type. Sorry I use my eyes to make sure of what Ive typed on the display. Light is faster than sound. Sound matters little unless you are copying word for word and your eyes need to be on something else.

 

[ignatius345]

Crappy in your opinion. I know how to type. Sorry I use my eyes to make sure of what Ive typed on the display. Light is faster than sound. Sound matters little unless you are copying word for word and your eyes need to be on something else.

Huh, you "know how to type" but you have to stare directly at what you're typing to make sure your keypresses have registered. Cool. And you have amazing X-Men level perception abilities to distinguish between the speed of light and sound at around a ~3 foot distance. OK, I take it back. For superhumans like you, yes, any keyboard will do. For the rest of us, sound and tactile feedback help.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Huh, you "know how to type" but you have to stare directly at what you're typing to make sure your keypresses have registered. Cool. And you have amazing X-Men level perception abilities to distinguish between the speed of light and sound at around a ~3 foot distance. OK, I take it back. For superhumans like you, yes, any keyboard will do. For the rest of us, sound and tactile feedback help.

Im sorry that some people unable to adapt to current technology as fast as others.

 

[kyykesko]

I tried the 12" Macbook and there's no way in hell I'm going to use one of those keyboards, ever. If I want that experience I already have my iPad with it's on-screen keyboard. I'm perfectly happy with my current 15" MBPr and if there was something I'd change, I'd actually make it a few mm thicker and use that space to house a lot larger battery. Give me one of those and I'll throw my money at you. Keep making ultra thin machines with sub par battery life and unusable keyboard and you'll lose me forever.

The thing I've loved the most about all of the macs I've owned has been the flawless operation of the keyboard and touchpad. I've yet to find a Windows laptop that can get even close, and I've had half a dozen of those, too. None beats even the crappiest Macbook I've had. The only reason I can say that is because I didn't buy the 12" MB. *sigh*

 

[ignatius345]

Im sorry that some people unable to adapt to current technology as fast as others.

Yeah because if something is new it's automatically better, right? I mean it HAS to be, because it's newer!

 

[LordVic]

Yeah because if something is new it's automatically better, right? I mean it HAS to be, because it's newer!

And thinner. it's always better if it's thinner. right? lets not forget that!

 

[shaunp]

You must have missed the part where I said Apple isn't the only company on earth. If they are not providing the options that you desire, well, why are you still buying their stuff? That's actually... kinda dumb.

It's the only computer company on earth that officially supports OS X on its hardware. If you really don't want to run Windows or Linux, you are pretty much limited to Apple. It's the ever diminishing hardware choices that is becoming a pain, not OS X.

Example. For a long time now Apple have limited their laptops to 16GB RAM, but the chipset supports 32GB. I prototype a lot in VMware and 16GB doesn't cut it so I have a second laptop (a Dell M4800 - a beast that looks like it's from the 80's) so I can run my prototypes. The new Dell laptops are lighter than the rMBP and support 32GB, or one that is slightly heavier supports 64GB. And gone are the days when Dell laptops look like crap, the new ones look fantastic, have very high specs and now Microsoft are directly involved in the trackpad development they actually work well.

As much as I prefer using OS X, I can't continue to cart around 8KG of laptops because Apple don't put enough RAM in the rMBP. The next rMBP needs to be a big upgrade as the competition simply has better hardware now.

 

[GeneralChang]

It's the only computer company on earth that officially supports OS X on its hardware. If you really don't want to run Windows or Linux, you are pretty much limited to Apple. It's the ever diminishing hardware choices that is becoming a pain, not OS X.

Example. For a long time now Apple have limited their laptops to 16GB RAM, but the chipset supports 32GB. I prototype a lot in VMware and 16GB doesn't cut it so I have a second laptop (a Dell M4800 - a beast that looks like it's from the 80's) so I can run my prototypes. The new Dell laptops are lighter than the rMBP and support 32GB, or one that is slightly heavier supports 64GB. And gone are the days when Dell laptops look like crap, the new ones look fantastic, have very high specs and now Microsoft are directly involved in the trackpad development they actually work well.

As much as I prefer using OS X, I can't continue to cart around 8KG of laptops because Apple don't put enough RAM in the rMBP. The next rMBP needs to be a big upgrade as the competition simply has better hardware now.

And isn't it great that Dell provides you different hardware options? And if Windows is your biggest pain point, there are oodles of linux distros that will do their level best to mimic it. And if you just reeeeeally want OS X only, I'll bet you could find a laptop that you could turn into a hackintosh.

The thing is, there's probably not going to be a perfect solution to anything ever. If you want OS X legally you need to live with their hardware. If you want all the hardware options and customizability in the world, you'll need to use Windows or Linux. As with anything, life is hard and then you die.