“Last week we posted an exciting Apple invention covering a game changing notebook design that disclosed the elimination of the physical keyboard and trackpad that would be replaced by an illuminated surface outlining a keyboard and trackpad,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“Such a design would also allow a MacBook Surface to transform into a gaming gamepad or other configuration,” Purcher reports. “Today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals their possible evolutionary process of first eliminating just the physical trackpad to get users used to the idea of it not being a fixed-positioned physical component of the MacBook.”
“A MacBook’s tradition keyboard would remain in place. The new design discussed today will allow a user to change the position of an illuminated area trackpad to anywhere along the width of the MacBook,” Purcher reports. “Once users are familiar with the new illuminated based trackpad, Apple could then move to the more radical step of replacing the physical keyboard with one based on illumination.”
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve long imagined what a MacBook would be like if it had an configurable display surface embedded where its keyboard and trackpad are today. The possibilities are endless. Especially with advanced haptics that make trackpads and keys seem to “click.”
Now, building off a somewhat related Apple patent application, is anyone in the market for a device that’s an OS X-powered MacBook when docked with its keyboard base and an iOS-powered iPad when it’s undocked?
Illustration from Apple’s hybrid Mac-iPad patent application
Love trackpads when the use is right, but the whole palm rest area needs to be a configurable trackpad.
For a right-hander, the track pad ought to be on the right, not the center to be more comfortable and it ought to be more like an iPhone surface, indeed, w/a user configurable screen area.
I’ve used Windows laptops where the trackpad is offset to one side, and it just feels … wrong. I prefer the clean, simple trackpad smack in the middle. Apple has done it right and I hope the don’t ruin that.
I would like to see a touchscreen OS X device with a detachable keyboard. When detached, I’d like to see some integration with both OS X and iOS – either make it OS-switchable on the fly, or some merger of the two operating systems. As much as people poo-poo the Surface brand and other, similar hybrid machines on the MS side of the house, having one do-it-all device makes a lot of sense. You can disagree with me all you want, but I’ve used both and I get why it makes sense, save for the crap OS Microsoft peddles. Just imagine something like that in the Apple world.
The problem is that Microsoft’s philosophy is coming back to haunt them. The complexity of the situation has meant for example it is not releasing promised updates for its phones that it sold on the basis of those promised updates. Not only may they never happen but even the new version of the OS that supposedly hives true interoperability is seriously late and under spec as compared to what was promised. It is becoming increasingly difficult for them to do what is promised, make it reliable and avoid memory hogging. What seems a good idea is not always good in practice. In this case if it is possible it would be fundamentally better to have an OS for each that is specialised for the way it works and interacts but is closely related
at the core and seemlessly interacts as and where necessary. Apple still has some way to go in this regard but I have grave reservations about the concept of the be all approach.
Mint.
I’ve always hated trackpads so it not being visible is great.
It could be great for games too I read. Whether Apple is thinking OS X MacBook or iOS iPad Pro with a hard cover is a question.
Love trackpads when the use is right, but the whole palm rest area needs to be a configurable trackpad.
For a right-hander, the track pad ought to be on the right, not the center to be more comfortable and it ought to be more like an iPhone surface, indeed, w/a user configurable screen area.
Yeah… no….
I’ve used Windows laptops where the trackpad is offset to one side, and it just feels … wrong. I prefer the clean, simple trackpad smack in the middle. Apple has done it right and I hope the don’t ruin that.
Make that puppy work with the Apple Pencil and I’m sold 😀
=:~)
I would like to see a touchscreen OS X device with a detachable keyboard. When detached, I’d like to see some integration with both OS X and iOS – either make it OS-switchable on the fly, or some merger of the two operating systems. As much as people poo-poo the Surface brand and other, similar hybrid machines on the MS side of the house, having one do-it-all device makes a lot of sense. You can disagree with me all you want, but I’ve used both and I get why it makes sense, save for the crap OS Microsoft peddles. Just imagine something like that in the Apple world.
Oh yeah – the Apple Pencil must work with it as well.
The problem is that Microsoft’s philosophy is coming back to haunt them. The complexity of the situation has meant for example it is not releasing promised updates for its phones that it sold on the basis of those promised updates. Not only may they never happen but even the new version of the OS that supposedly hives true interoperability is seriously late and under spec as compared to what was promised. It is becoming increasingly difficult for them to do what is promised, make it reliable and avoid memory hogging. What seems a good idea is not always good in practice. In this case if it is possible it would be fundamentally better to have an OS for each that is specialised for the way it works and interacts but is closely related
at the core and seemlessly interacts as and where necessary. Apple still has some way to go in this regard but I have grave reservations about the concept of the be all approach.