MBP Keyboard will Soon Have no Actual Keys?

[leman]

You've got to be kidding me. The title is "Computer with keyboard" and from the description it looks like a rubber keyboard protector over various types of switches, including the butterfly ones. I don't really get this whole IT patenting business.

Yeah, the patenting stuff is pretty terrible business.... The patent itself is rather interesting though. The "protector" is not rubber but deforming glass and it can be laid over a "normal" keyboard. If done properly, you could have the same tactile feedback as a keyboard with regular switches, but in a device that's much better protected, with more stable "keys" and of course you can add e-ink or other kind of displays as key glyphs.

I am rather sceptical of this ATM of course, but it just might work.

 

[sracer]

old idea, I have Yoga Book and keyboard without physical keys isn't good for long writing, virtual keyboard is situated on Wacom tablet which can be used also like a drawing tablet


also Lenovo updated Yoga Book in the last Autumn, and now the keyboard it's on E Ink display

Apple is few years behind competition from other manufacturers

Thank you for posting this. I love using my Yoga Book (Android version). It's a terrific device. There's only one or two minor issues that prevent it from being perfect for me.

 

[jerryk]

I had one keyboard failure in ~30 laptops over 2.5 years. I'd take these odds. Not to say that these keyboard don't have reliability issues — they certainly do. I can understand that people who hope to keep their machines operating for long periods of time are wary of this fact. Its not a problem for us since we replace machines after 4 years or earlier.

We are the same way. And no KB failures. And like you we dump machines after a few years. The depreciated is gone, and employees like having new computers. And from a business perspective it is cheap. You don't want a $200/hr developer waiting on someone to repair their machine.

 

[Thysanoptera]

Yeah, the patenting stuff is pretty terrible business.... The patent itself is rather interesting though. The "protector" is not rubber but deforming glass and it can be laid over a "normal" keyboard. If done properly, you could have the same tactile feedback as a keyboard with regular switches, but in a device that's much better protected, with more stable "keys" and of course you can add e-ink or other kind of displays as key glyphs.

I am rather sceptical of this ATM of course, but it just might work.

My first impression was that they want to move the rubber protectors from the 3rd gen butterfly to the top, and since we already there let's claim every possible use of a continuous flexible surface, sensors, displays, actuators etc. What really makes me angry about those patents is that they are written in such a broad language, not very specific, the most used words are "may or may not". I understand the need to protect the company from patent trolls and Apple sure is not one of them, but then in a dispute such description becomes a weapon of mass destruction. If you want to create a new device you have to start with lawyers, not engineers and inventors.

 

[MBAir2010]

I do not have an iPad and so am wondering how those who regularly use an iPad feel about typing on glass for extended periods. eeling when typing on glass. Comments?

Imhate typing on the macipad, because every sentence has extra characters i never typed!

 

[PhilMacbook]

Maybe Apple keyboards will end up not too far from this

 

[internetrando]

Unless they can mimic a real keyboard, I don't want it. I never will want it. I will never purchase it.

I don't want a computer with a bigger version of the Touch Bar. Give me back my function keys too, while you're busy doing innovative things, Apple.

 

[Yr Blues]

TouchTyping without false-positives would be difficult. People like resting their fingers on the keys. You'll get tired more if you have to keep them hovering away from the keys.

The machine was built for man. Man was not built for the machine.

 

[Sedulous]

old idea, I have Yoga Book and keyboard without physical keys isn't good for long writing, virtual keyboard is situated on Wacom tablet which can be used also like a drawing tablet


also Lenovo updated Yoga Book in the last Autumn, and now the keyboard it's on E Ink display

Apple is few years behind competition from other manufacturers

Absolutely ghastly

 

[pshufd]

I want a mechanical keyboard in a laptop - sure, it will have to be an inch thick but that's fine with me. That would also provide better cooling.

 

[ZStech]

Do you ever get the impression that Apple is slowly acclimatizing us towards having no actual physical keys on the keyboard?

I have 3 MBPs starting from 2008, and I can see the key action/ height on the keys is slowly getting lower. I don't own the 2016-2018 (due to reliability issues) but have typed on it.

I'm not sure how I would feel about having no actual key travel on one of these keyboards but I could probably cope as long as I can touch type and find the keys without looking.

I guess there are a few advantages to having no physical keys. Spills, dust etc wouldn't be a problem. It would allow for an even thinner chassis (not that care for thinness). You could potentially type faster with lower action. If they use touch LCD screens you could change the keyboard layout/ language easily or have custom keyboards based on the app.

I'd love to have keyboard like that

 

[sracer]

Absolutely ghastly

I'm curious... have you ever used one?

 

[maflynn]

Maybe Apple keyboards will end up not too far from this

I remember those, and the Atari 400, as kid I wanted one so bad

 

[MBAir2010]

i can vision apple manufacturing a key-less USB, Magic and mutli-device keyboard.
The keyless keyboards are just a glass screen will be available in space grey, silver rose, rose grey and rosemary colors.the prices will be 149.99. 169.99 and 299.99

 

[turbineseaplane]

Hard to say about the MBP having no actual keys...
But, if they aren't careful, the MBP might soon have no actual customers

 

[Garage Battle]

We don't really need keys (you're typing on it wrong)

We don't really need displays either (you're opening it wrong)

For some users we don't even need the charger cable to stay connected (you're charging it wrong)

 

[ThisBougieLife]

I don't think we can say how soon that will happen, but I do think that that will be the future, yes. As long as I can still type as fast as I can on the current keyboard, I will be okay with it.

 

[MacNut]

As I have said before, this device if it ever happens will not be called a MacBook Pro at all but a hybrid iPad laptop. It will be a full touchscreen computer based on iOS.

 

[PVDHell]

Do you ever get the impression that Apple is slowly acclimatizing us towards having no actual physical keys on the keyboard?

I have 3 MBPs starting from 2008, and I can see the key action/ height on the keys is slowly getting lower. I don't own the 2016-2018 (due to reliability issues) but have typed on it.

I'm not sure how I would feel about having no actual key travel on one of these keyboards but I could probably cope as long as I can touch type and find the keys without looking.

I guess there are a few advantages to having no physical keys. Spills, dust etc wouldn't be a problem. It would allow for an even thinner chassis (not that care for thinness). You could potentially type faster with lower action. If they use touch LCD screens you could change the keyboard layout/ language easily or have custom keyboards based on the app.

I do get the distinct sense that less moving parts means more durable and reliable. So I could see it.

 

[Sedulous]

I'm curious... have you ever used one?

Frequently

 

[bluespark]

Title:
"MBP Keyboard will Soon Have no Actual Keys?"

I've been a Mac user for 32 years.
I use ONLY Macs.
I almost never touch Windows, as an OS it seems incomprehensible to me.

HOWEVER --
If Apple ever makes a move as stupid as this, I'll be buying my first Windows laptop...

But whatever you're visualizing might be quite different from what they are working on. Consider the home button in the iPhone 7. When many of us found out it was no longer going to be an actual button, we were skeptical. And indeed it did feel strange -- for about an hour. After that, at least for me, I felt like I was pressing a real button with actual movement. The haptic sensation told my brain that something physical was moving. Now imagine a Macbook keyboard with keys that are slightly raised and look and feel like regular keys, but where key travel is synthesized through the use of haptic feedback. In theory, that could feel just like typing on a mechanical keyboard, but without any actual key movement. It could work.
[doublepost=1551481550][/doublepost]

TouchTyping without false-positives would be difficult. People like resting their fingers on the keys. You'll get tired more if you have to keep them hovering away from the keys.

The machine was built for man. Man was not built for the machine.

You'd be able to rest your fingers on the keys.

 

[Macintoshrumors]

Here is Apple's patent filling, for virtual keyboard with haptic feedback:

Link to document

View attachment 823820

Apple files tons of patents without them seeing the consumer.

Imo it will never happen. have you ever tried typing on an iPad Pros virtual keyboard for long periods of time? It’s not very comfortable nor ergonomic.

Tons of people complained the butterfly keyboard was too shallow and didn’t have enough key travel, imagine the will lose their S if Apple eliminates the physical keyboard.

The virtual keyboard works on a phone, the tablet (to an extinct) but not on a mac.

 

[Fishrrman]

bluespark wrote:
"Consider the home button in the iPhone 7. When many of us found out it was no longer going to be an actual button, we were skeptical"

Off topic, but...
I will never own an iPhone (nor an Android phone, for that matter). Ever.
I'm probably the only user of this forum who doesn't use a cell phone.
(Well, I do have an old Samsung "930" "flip phone", but it's ALWAYS turned off and I seldom carry it with me, except on long trips).
I don't even use the landline phone, except when there's no choice but to do so.

 

[Stephen.R]

I will never own an iPhone

Cool story bro.

 

[redheeler]

bluespark wrote:
"Consider the home button in the iPhone 7. When many of us found out it was no longer going to be an actual button, we were skeptical"

Off topic, but...
I will never own an iPhone (nor an Android phone, for that matter). Ever.
I'm probably the only user of this forum who doesn't use a cell phone.
(Well, I do have an old Samsung "930" "flip phone", but it's ALWAYS turned off and I seldom carry it with me, except on long trips).
I don't even use the landline phone, except when there's no choice but to do so.

Fair enough, but most of us prefer to live in the current decade.