A new Apple patent has just surfaced. It was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office and was granted to the company for a Mac keyboard, which has reconfigurable small displays built in each key.
According to a 9To5Mac report, the small display on each key allows the keyboard to show different characters, which can be configured based on the users’ preferences. While this sounds similar in function to the Touch Bar, the new keyboard would still feature physical keys, although, the patent reveals that the keys on this new keyboard houses a tiny display instead of regular engraved labels for each individual key.
Looking at the patent, it is also revealed that these keys support dynamic labeling, which is generated by an LED display with pixel arrays. These displays do not offer a high resolution or any other high end features and are just focused around displayed the basic characters of a given language. In other words, it would also enable users to set up a completely unique keyboard layout, by changing the key labels.
This has a wide area of implications, as users might even be given the option to configure their new Apple MacBooks for different profiles for gaming, programming, video editing, and others as well. Apple would basically only need to create a single keyboard model, with the only difference being the language being displayed on the keys, based on the region the Mac is being sold in.
The user may, for example, desire to switch a keyboard between a first format (e.g., an English-language format) and a second format (e.g., a Greek-language format). In response to user input to switch the keyboard, control circuitry in an electronic device can adjust the key labels being displayed by the key displays from English letters to Greek letters, thereby switching the keyboard from the first format to the second format.
The new keyboard was patented for both the built in keyboard for MacBooks and even the standalone keyboards for Mac desktops like Mac mini, iMac, and the Mac Pro.
0 Comments