Regarding the keyboard; what do you guys think about this idea:
For many years, Apple has used haptic technology for the MacBook trackpads. The technology works so well that I often forget that the trackpad doesn’t actually “click” when pressed. My thinking is that Apple should adopt that same technology for the keyboard... Here’s how:
Create a slightly raised surface with some space between each key. At first glance, the keyboard should look and feel the same as the current one. This allows people who type by touch to still do so since this haptic keyboard would still give the illusion and feel of raised individual keys. When used, each key when “pressed” would give haptic feedback to simulate a real key press.
This would have many benefits:
1. It removes the extra mechanical pieces that are involved to make real keys. This means, no stuck keys, no worrying about junk getting underneath the keys (there would be no opening) and none of the other issues that have plagued the keyboards of this generation of MacBooks.
2. It would give the user more control over key feel. The user can decide how much effort it should take to activate each key and how much feedback should be given when each key is pressed. You could basically simulate having more or less travel. You could also do deep presses that activate other functions (deep press on shift could be another way to activate Caps lock).
3. Durability wise, since you wouldn’t need a hole for each key, you would potentially have a keyboard that is more spill and dust resistant.
Personally, I think haptics are good enough to make this happen and if designed right, I think it could give a good typing experience that comes close to the feel of a real keyboard. Also, the extra space that Apple saves by bot having to use physical key mechanisms will allow room for better cooling and / or a bigger battery.
Apple actually filed multiple patents regarding a glass surface keyboard that sound very similar to your concept, most recently
this one. It describes a glass keyboard where the individual keys itself are still elevated (so you could find them by feel alone and touch type) that, from what I understand, will be deformed when you press it (as in, move downwards like conventional keyboards, though not necessarily with as much key travel) and use tactile responses that are generated in the exact region that you're touching the key. It's supposed to be a combination of both of those (key travel + haptic/"Taptic" response) that will create the tactile feel when typing.
I think a lot of people here will tell you that the idea is BS and that Apple should return to keyboards with more key travel, but personally, I actually like the idea. If done right, such a glass keyboard could be as thin or thinner than what we have now, but could
feel like it has a lot
more key travel and tactile response than our current keyboards, while inheriting none of the reliability concerns of the butterfly keyboard, and having a ton of additional advantages.
Apple's current Force Touch trackpads and Home Buttons on the iPhone 7/8 already don't physically click anymore, yet most people who don't know any better would swear they do because the tactile response is just so good. Yet when you look back at the comment sections of MacRumors and other sites of articles where the patents of a haptic Home Button or trackpad initially surfaced, people were just as critical of these ideas as they are now about a haptic glass keyboard, claiming that haptic sensations could never replace the physical click of a trackpad or button. Today, most people don't want to go back to Apple's pre-haptic trackpads anymore.
Of course, Apple's current haptic technology isn't quite there
yet. For example, the current Taptic Engine isn't very good at delivering a haptic signal only to a specific area (in the keyboard patent, it's described that only the area surrounding the pressed key would get the haptic sensation, because you don't want to feel like
all of your keys are being pressed down when you only press one of them). But I'm sure Apple is already working on better haptic technology, and I see no reason why we can overcome hurdles like these in the future. Personally, I think it's more of a question of
when, not
if we see a haptic glass keyboard. I've said it before and I'll say it now: I think the Touch Bar was only the first step in Apple's long-term plan for laptop keyboards.
I also think you're spot-on about the advantages of a glass keyboard: customizability of the haptic feel would be a big one. Right now, a single keyboard provides the same tactile experience for everyone, but some people prefer more key-travel and tactile response than others. With the glass keyboard from Apple's patent, you could adjust the haptic response at any time, like you already can right now for the trackpad (though probably with a lot more options, for example different tactile responses for different keys). It could also be an important step in finally making laptops waterproof, which would be a big milestone by itself and just isn't feasible with most conventional laptop keyboards.
But maybe most importantly: the keyboard area could turn into a secondary screen. It could give you additional screen real-estate, it could switch the letters on the keycaps at any time (meaning, you could switch the keyboard layout for your keyboard not just in software, but physically by changing the keycap descriptions), you could preview keyboard shortcuts right on the keyboard itself instead of digging through menus to learn them, software could be allowed to put custom symbols on each key, etc.etc. There are numerous applications where having each keycap be a tiny screen would be useful, and I believe that alone could already make such a glass keyboard worthwhile.
But alas – it's all speculation for now. We know that Apple is at the very least considering a glass keyboard, judging by their patents, but that doesn't guarantee us that we'll ever see it in an actual product. And while I personally believe it's more of a question of when than if, that doesn't mean that we'll see it anytime soon. Could be a decade or longer, as we have very little insight on how fast haptic technology will be evolving and how many issues such a deformable glass surface could have that need to be worked out. It's definitely no replacement for getting a new, no-longer-failure-prone keyboard in this year's MBP redesign. But at the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if we one day look back at the derogatory comments about this patent the same way we do now about the derogatory comments the first haptic trackpad patent got, or the haptic Home Button, or a lot of other haptic technology in the iPhone.
