The future of the Mac: touch keyboard and gesture control (Topic)

The familiar look of laptops has remained unchanged for decades. But it may happen that in the design of laptop computers significant changes will occur in the very near future.

Apple Corporation, which has never been afraid to take revolutionary steps in the industry, is ready to go for a radical experiment. Confirmation of this is the introduction of the Touch Bar in the MacBook Pro laptop instead of the function keys, or the abandonment of the 3.5 mm headphone jack in their smartphones.

Physical keyboard to the dustbin of history

Various online sources describe a new Apple patent that uses a touchpad in Mac notebooks instead of a physical keyboard. The patent specification states that the panel serves as a second screen in a two-case computer device. It is noted that the housings can rotate around the pivot axis relative to each other.

Points will be required

The patent says that the first display of the device will be installed in one case, and the second in another. In addition, the second housing can be equipped with a trackpad and keyboard. The ambiguity of the wording leaves Apple room for maneuver: the keyboard and trackpad can be separate devices or be one with the screen. Users will need to wear polarized glasses to operate the new MacBook.

The optical and polarization layers of the displays will be applied in such a way that the user can see the picture on both displays with the help of glasses with vertical polarization. Reflections of light rays between displays will also be suppressed by the glasses.

Project perspectives

Even Apple's impressive track record of introducing new technologies will require significant efforts from the corporation's marketers to get users of the updated MacBook to wear special glasses. Market experts point out that the introduction of a laptop with a touchpad instead of a physical keyboard will help boost sales. As an example, they cite the situation with the iPhone X, whose radically redesigned design has increased corporate profits. There is also the opposite opinion that Apple will never make its idea a reality, so fans of Mac notebooks should not worry about special glasses.

Mac will be gesture controlled

The touch keyboard is not all that the corporation from Cupertino wants to implement in its new products. Macs are slated to be gesture-controlled very soon. This control mode will be activated by a special sequence of arm movements along a specific axis. The user's hand movements will be monitored by a special device built into the laptop. After activating the mode, the actions of the computer can be "controlled" in the literal sense of the word.

The Topic of Article: The future of the Mac: touch keyboard and gesture control.
Author: Jake Pinkman