Apple Have Filed a Patent For a Keyboard-less Macbook

Have you ever used multiple screens? you know when you’ve just set up that second screen for the first time and you’re trying to figure out how everything works now. Well, why not have that one a laptop but with a little twist, the second screen, is right where your keyboard used to be? Apple may be trying to do just that with one of their latest patents looking at a keyboard-less Macbook.

The patent was only made public on Thursday but was filed all the way back in September 2015 and seems to show what contains an area described as a “force sensitive input structure for an electronic device”, essentially a large touch screen area where your keyboard used to be.

Apple uses the term “zero-travel” to describe the keyless surface that doesn’t have to move when you press it. The surface, however, does include designs for haptic feedback, just like when you type away on your phone and vibrates back at you.

As a bonus, the system would allow you to configure what you need, need a giant touch pad, you’ve got it. Keyboard and number pad? It’s all yours. While this design is no way unique, with the Acer ICONIA 6120 featuring a touch screen where your keyboard is normally giving you all you need to create and upgrade your inputs as your needs arise.

While it may not become a product for a few years, we are seeing more and more devices that look to do away with dedicated input areas and make use of touch or motion controls. Do you think it’s a good movement away from the keyboard or will there always be a place for keyboards on your laptop?