Apple granted a patent for Macs with virtual keyboards

Apple has been granted a patent (number US 11619976 B2) that shows the company’s interest in making Macs with virtual keyboards. 

About the patent

The patent relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly to an electronic device having a keyboard with a flexible input surface. Obviously, conventional keyboards include movable keys that are actuated by a user striking them with their fingers or another object. And some devices include touchscreens on which virtual keyboards may be displayed. Users may select individual keys of virtual keyboards by pressing on the part of the surface of the touchscreen that corresponds to a desired letter, character, or function. 

The surface of the touchscreen may be flat and featureless so may occupy less space than a mechanical keyboard. However, as Apple notes in the patent filing, this requires users to identify the location of the keys by sight rather than by feel. To overcome such issues, a Mac could be equipped with a keyboard that supports force sensing and haptic feedback. 

Alternatively, the keyboard could be semi-virtual (my words, not Apple’s). In other words, it would include an array of raised key regions built into a Mac that would respond to touch.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A device may include a display portion that includes a display housing and a display at least partially within the display housing. The device may also include a base portion pivotally coupled to the display portion and including a bottom case, a top case coupled to the bottom case and defining an array of raised key regions, and a sensing system below the top case and configured to detect an input applied to a raised key region of the array of raised key regions.”