Apple will take keyboards to a whole new intimidating level with the MacBook Pro and Air 2016, if a new report is to be believed. The tech titan is hard at work in pushing the envelope for its heralded force-touch technology by putting it to use on a keyboard.
A freshly publicized patent application by Apple suggests that the tech firm will introduce a brand new input technology in the new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air referred to as "zero travel," which it described as a "force-sensitive input structure for an electronic device."
The innovative keyboard, imagined to be used on the MacBook Pro 2016 and the MacBook Air 2016, will have a touchscreen and will have no physical keys. Simply put, the keyboard will look like a clean flat slate.
The keyboard senses and translates the pressure of the user's fingers. As an exciting feature, the device will make the user feel as if he or she really is pressing physical keys despite these keys being absent.
Users will know where to press with "micro-perforations or holes." With these holes, they will know where individual keys are located through the lights emanating from below them. The concept, if anything, certainly sounds perfect for the MacBook Pro 2016 and the MacBook Air 2016.
In addition, users will also have the power to organize the keyboard to how they like it and how they'll use it. As demonstrated in the images included in the patent application, users can reserve room for the numeric keypad, multiple trackpads or for special sets of keys.
It appears that the keyboard can either function as one big trackpad for browsing and can switch into a full-on keyboard when MacBook Pro 2016 and Air 2016 users need to type.
With "zero travel," Apple is changing the way users think about keyboards. The technology will reportedly be ready for action in the MacBook Pro and Air 2016. It will no doubt be the selling point of the laptops.
The MacBook Pro 2016, which will come in 13-inch and 15-inch versions, is expected to be launched in June while the MacBook Air 2016 is slated to be released at a later date.
