I've been saying this for years. They have been grooming us all with subtle changes. First the thinner keys on the early ibooks. Then the chicklet keys on the white macbooks. Then the lower profile versions on the retina imacs. Now the even thinner version on the new Macbooks. Next will be this patent version and finally once there is no more room to thin it out, a forcetouch screen version with adaptive keys and variable input options.
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Apple Patents Switch-Less Force Touch Keyboard, Could Lead to Thinner Macs
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I've been saying this for years. They have been grooming us all with subtle changes. First the thinner keys on the early ibooks. Then the chicklet keys on the white macbooks. Then the lower profile versions on the retina imacs. Now the even thinner version on the new Macbooks. Next will be this patent version and finally once there is no more room to thin it out, a forcetouch screen version with adaptive keys and variable input options.
Cool. Don't buy it. Together we can speak with our wallets and maybe Apple will listen.
this Will have haptic feedback though, so it might still seem like you're pressing the key
Yep! As Apple keeps going further and further towards keys that barely move when pressed, I felt compelled to pay the $149 for a Tactile Pro 4 with real ALPS keyswitches.
Sorry Apple, but that horrible excuse for a keyboard you're peddling now at a higher price than ever, based on the new Macbook keyboard? No WAY I'm buying one of those.
Sorry Apple, but that horrible excuse for a keyboard you're peddling now at a higher price than ever, based on the new Macbook keyboard? No WAY I'm buying one of those.
Cue Jony... "By essentially removing Mac's physical keyboard, we have made the design 16% thinner".
I'd like to see Apple reduce / shrink the costs for their products rather than reducing and shrinking the products themselves.
Well, I think the new Macbook 12" was more of a showcase for new things Apple wanted to test the water with and see how popular they were. Making an "Ultrabook" for the purpose, rather than putting it in a "mainstream" Mac like the Macbook Air or an iMac made sense. (If it was a total flop, at least it wouldn't destroy a hugely popular product line.)
I actually bought one of these (in space gray and the higher-end configuration) to try using it as my primary work computer. I had been using a 17" Macbook Pro from mid 2010 before this, so I knew it wouldn't have worse performance than that. Typically, I leave it docked with an "Ultrastation" USB 3 dock made by J-Create, so I'm using a pair of full-size displays, regular keyboard, mouse and wired gigabit Ethernet connection with it.
When I want to take it someplace, it's just a matter of unhooking the USB connector to the dock and the power connector to the USB-C port on the side of it. Then it's as easy to take around as an iPad.
Having used it for a while now? I can safely say it works just fine for things like Microsoft Office 2016 (which I'm in all day long, especially for Outlook), flowcharting with Omnigraffle Pro, photo editing with Preview or GraphicsConverter and web surfing. It starts to show it has a weak CPU when you start using VMWare with a virtual Windows 7 or 8 session -- but even that is usable, if not exactly "snappy".
Bottom line? I think it serves a niche purpose. You definitely pay a big premium price tag just for the fact it's so thin and lightweight, and performance suffers. But the really thin, light Windows PC Ultrabooks were trade-offs in performance like this too (Atom processors, etc.). I don't care much for the new keyboard design on it though, and can't believe Apple is trying to push that as the new standard Mac keyboard.
I actually bought one of these (in space gray and the higher-end configuration) to try using it as my primary work computer. I had been using a 17" Macbook Pro from mid 2010 before this, so I knew it wouldn't have worse performance than that. Typically, I leave it docked with an "Ultrastation" USB 3 dock made by J-Create, so I'm using a pair of full-size displays, regular keyboard, mouse and wired gigabit Ethernet connection with it.
When I want to take it someplace, it's just a matter of unhooking the USB connector to the dock and the power connector to the USB-C port on the side of it. Then it's as easy to take around as an iPad.
Having used it for a while now? I can safely say it works just fine for things like Microsoft Office 2016 (which I'm in all day long, especially for Outlook), flowcharting with Omnigraffle Pro, photo editing with Preview or GraphicsConverter and web surfing. It starts to show it has a weak CPU when you start using VMWare with a virtual Windows 7 or 8 session -- but even that is usable, if not exactly "snappy".
Bottom line? I think it serves a niche purpose. You definitely pay a big premium price tag just for the fact it's so thin and lightweight, and performance suffers. But the really thin, light Windows PC Ultrabooks were trade-offs in performance like this too (Atom processors, etc.). I don't care much for the new keyboard design on it though, and can't believe Apple is trying to push that as the new standard Mac keyboard.
Is there gonna at least be haptic feedback? Because if so then I don't mind, but i'd like for some kind of feedback. As long as I get that, I'm okay with this idea. I really like the new trackpad's click.
No matter what Apple does with their keyboards, they'll never come up with something as good as this:
I don't want that ugly keyboard anymore....
I started on manual typewriters - I measured one the other day - over 1/2" (12mm) of key travel. The most difficult keyboard transition I made was from manual to electric. I've lost count of the keyboards I've used. They all work once I acclimate.
What I have learned over time is to use a light touch - for me, the lighter the touch, the less stress, both physical and emotional. I certainly need tactile feedback; to know where my fingers are, both at the onset of a key press and at its end. But I find initial resistance the 'key' - a clear transition between at rest and in motion. A bit of give/cushioning/push-off at the end of travel is also a nice thing.
I'm sure there are those who type faster when they can pound the keyboard. Not I. My theory? They feel less inhibited when they can wail away on the thing. If it works for them, then it works. Different keystrokes.... The more keyboards, the merrier.
What I see in this patent is a keyboard that is potentially adaptable to a variety of styles. The piezo actuator can conceivably provide a range of sensations (a hard recoil, a light click, elastomeric bounce...), delaying the actuator's response aids the illusion of extended key travel... and though I doubt it'd have much of an impact on battery life, striking a piezo actuator generates a voltage, so the harder you pound away, the longer you'll be able to keep pounding.
But in the end, the goal at Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, et. al. is voice control.... well, the penultimate goal. Telepathic control will follow that. The thinnest, lightest, fastest keyboard is no keyboard at all. Everything else is a stop-gap.
What I have learned over time is to use a light touch - for me, the lighter the touch, the less stress, both physical and emotional. I certainly need tactile feedback; to know where my fingers are, both at the onset of a key press and at its end. But I find initial resistance the 'key' - a clear transition between at rest and in motion. A bit of give/cushioning/push-off at the end of travel is also a nice thing.
I'm sure there are those who type faster when they can pound the keyboard. Not I. My theory? They feel less inhibited when they can wail away on the thing. If it works for them, then it works. Different keystrokes.... The more keyboards, the merrier.
What I see in this patent is a keyboard that is potentially adaptable to a variety of styles. The piezo actuator can conceivably provide a range of sensations (a hard recoil, a light click, elastomeric bounce...), delaying the actuator's response aids the illusion of extended key travel... and though I doubt it'd have much of an impact on battery life, striking a piezo actuator generates a voltage, so the harder you pound away, the longer you'll be able to keep pounding.
But in the end, the goal at Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, et. al. is voice control.... well, the penultimate goal. Telepathic control will follow that. The thinnest, lightest, fastest keyboard is no keyboard at all. Everything else is a stop-gap.
No matter what Apple does with their keyboards, they'll never come up with something as good as this:
The perfect keyboard. Looks terrible, but it the best typing experience there is. Why don't Apple get this? For a company that keeps saying it has the 'best experience ever', it's almost always about how the product looks rather than how it works in reality. I mean what kind of moron puts an SD card on the back of an iMac and thinks that's a better idea than putting it somewhere easily accessible?
Absolutely! There's the perception within Apple that the "best experience" must be based primarily on the form of the device rather than how well it actually accomplishes the job it's supposed to do. I've no problem with them wanting to make things look nice, but first & foremost they need to get the function side of things fixed first.
I'm pretty sure this taptic keyboard isn't for Mac's.
They will probably add taptic feedback to the iPad/iPhone when typing.
Btw I'm not a big fan of taptic touchpad, had my MBP for good 3x month now and it till feels like my old MBP touchpad when it got enough dirt underneath. Thought I'll get used to but I'm not there yet...
They will probably add taptic feedback to the iPad/iPhone when typing.
Btw I'm not a big fan of taptic touchpad, had my MBP for good 3x month now and it till feels like my old MBP touchpad when it got enough dirt underneath. Thought I'll get used to but I'm not there yet...
Apple tends to try to modify user behavior leading to a new technology. The logical progression of this is to move toward a touch sensitive pad below with virtual keys on it much like an iPhone is now, with options to use touch typing, swipe and other input methods for specific applications and modes. By doing away with keys completely, Apples vision of thinness and simplicity will come full circle.
However traditional touch typists will be left in the cold to use an external keyboard. I wonder if Apple can force that much consumer adaptation?
However traditional touch typists will be left in the cold to use an external keyboard. I wonder if Apple can force that much consumer adaptation?
I'm all for innovation, but you just don't get the same feedback from a touch keyboard as you would a physical one. A mechanical keyboard is even better and a good quality mechanical keyboard will last a long time.
You are correct. No one with a brain wants that now. Apple understands to tailor your OS's to the different hardware, unlike the others who try to put their desktop OS on their tablets and end up with a unusable mess.
Sarcasm does not translate well on the internet. Your reply proves this.I know. Thank you.
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Oh brilliant. Make a computer that's already too thin to hold comfortable thinner at the expense of an actual usable keyboard.
Why not make it even thinner by having no keyboard in the device and you can control it remotely from your iPhone's on screen keyboard.
Why not make it even thinner by having no keyboard in the device and you can control it remotely from your iPhone's on screen keyboard.
No one asks for thinness I agree. But after the fact we are all glad it happened.
Imagine if your iMac was still the same size and weight in 2015 as it was in the early 2000's when the fruity coloured CRT iMacs were released? That would be terrible and show a total lack of innovation. Or what if your new MBP was the same weight as the first few Powerbooks? Same deal, getting thinner was a very good innovation.
Thinness is very important. It allows different hardware applications in the future just not possible today. Syre today it's just 2mm shaved off your favourite Mac. But in the future the ever thinner parts lead to wonderful new technologies and other things. 1-2mm shaved off every generation of tech adds up over time to make some really good products in the future.
You have to look it it from a future perspective where 2015 is the past. In the future we are all glad the Macs shrunk over time.
You could also customise the harder push to be bold caps or paragraph functions or whatever you want it to be. It'd be totally customisable. As would the hard push be.
The practical applications for this kind of thing outside of typography I assume would be great. Ideas I can't even think off is many different fields but some smart cookie will work it all out and adapt it to their industry.
Apple won't stop until it is 0.0 inches thin
Here is your fat. That Jon Ive is getting really fat.
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I'm not glad about the thin products at all. My 2010 MBP was a more flexible platform than my 2013 rMBP. I only 'upgraded' because of the GPU issues that Apple wouldn't admit to at the time. The rMBP might be marginally thinner and lighter, but I can't replace the RAM or HDD, and there's no ethernet port or matte screen option. Not so bothered about the optical disk, but if there was one I could take it out and put in a second SSD/HDD.
Let's see what the next MBP is like. See if Apple follow the trend with Mobile Xeon that Dell and Lenovo are doing with their high-end laptops. As a professional user (i.e. working or a living rather than sitting in Starbucks writing a novel), I find that once you get past the initial 'glossy' of apple products the hardware does have a lot of compromise to achieve the Apple look.
Haha, um, what? No really, what was that even supposed to mean?
Let's see if I can't make sense of that analogy. I don't know a single typist who hangs out up around 100 wpm who requires a certain keyboard feel in order to manage those speeds. They can do it on any keyboard if you give them a few minutes to warm up.
As for shoes, I think it's fair to say that anybody who has spent their life mastering bipedal locomotion could probably manage to walk in any kind of shoes, especially if you give them a few minutes to get used to them. But if we're to take your comparison to its logical conclusion, it's probably also fair to say that shoes that are especially tall and unwieldy (long travel, you might even say) would be more difficult to master. The lower and flatter they are, the more natural they'll feel to the practiced biped.
You're going to have to walk me past that, because I'm really not seeing where you were going there.
The original Surface keyboard was like that. Just a pad with keys on it and no feedback beyond hearing your fingers tap away. You got used to it, and even could type fairly fast, but the funny thing is that Microsoft left that behind and went back to keyboards with old scissor mechanism or whatever is under those keys. They travel again.
I can sympathise. As a writer I have typeda lot, starting with an actual typewriter, thern through AppleIIs, to various MACs and the PowerBook/MacBook and finally to my iPad. Over the years I had to get used to less and less throw. Honestly though, while it took some adaptation, now I don't mind little, or in the case of the iPad, no throw. No throw with a bit of haptic feedback would be OK, especially if it meant no more worrying about what the crumbs are doing to the inside of my MAC.