Apple has invented a new kind of dual purpose keyboard that the company refers to as a “fusion keyboard,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“The invention basically covers one or more of the mechanical keys being able to form dual-purpose mechanical keys being depressed to two or more different levels, or depths, to generate two or more different outputs depending on the depth of the key depression,” Purcher reports. “The space bar is considered a dual purpose key that could double as a touch sensitive cursor and could be configured to generate a mouse click upon being depressed to the second level.”
“With Apple now heavily invested in their new Force Touch trackpad for the MacBook, the current invention may have been sacrificed,” Purcher muses. “However, Apple could technically bring this invention to the iMac’s keyboard over time.”
Read more, and see Apple’s patent application illustrations, in the full article here.