“Apple’s design and engineering teams have come up with a new way of creating and manufacturing backlit keyboards using a variety of lasers including ultraviolet laser, a green laser, a YAG laser and others depending on the desired size and shape of the graphic that Apple is trying to achieve,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“The process of creating the right effect will also employ the use of exotic paints such as titanium dioxide-loaded paint, a latex-based paint, a rubber-based paint, a plastic paint, and so on,” Purcher reports. “While Apple illustrates that the new backlit etchings could be used in creating a future desktop keyboard, they also make it clear that the process could be used to create designs, logos, borders and more on iOS devices, televisions, mice, home electronics and far beyond.”
Purcher reports, “I’m sure that this process could be used in creating a very cool TV remote – but that’s a story for another day.”
Much more in the full article, including Apple’s patent application illustrations, here.