Apple appears to be researching the idea of a keyboard that expands out of the MacBook Pro chassis, and retracts again when the lid is closed.
Screens on notebooks have always been delicate, and fairly expensive to fix. In 2020, Apple had to advise people against fitting slideable camera covers over the lens in the lid of the MacBook Pro, as this was leading to cracked screens.
Similarly, in 2015, there were MacBook Pro users complaining that just closing the lid was leading to damage on the screen coating.
A newly-granted patent attempts to solve some screen issues by also potentially making it possible to keep the MacBook Pro thin. “Retractable keyboards” was originally filed as a patent application back in the butterfly keyboard days, but it remains relevant today, even as Apple has drastically improved its MacBook Pro keyboards.
“Recent advances in computing [means that portable] devices have become thinner, lighter, and more efficient,” says Apple. “However, mechanical user interfaces with the devices have parts that can be difficult to change in size due to user preferences.”
“Users expect devices to have a button or key size that is well-suited for a finger to press, and users generally have a preference for buttons or keys that provide audible and tactile feedback when pressed,” it continues. “Thus, user interfaces such as keyboards and other buttons are designed to have a predetermined size and amount of perceived deflection when pressed.”
Apple’s proposal is to make it such that the MacBook Pro chassis can move, “selectively retracting or extending the keys of the keyboard relative to an internal keyboard mounting or support layer.”
This is all reminiscent of the IBM ThinkPad’s famous butterfly keyboard from the 90s, wherein the “butterfly” keyboard would spread out from the casing. Upon opening the notebook, the keyboard would move up, forward, and out. The notebook would essentially offer a full-size keyboard which extended over the sides of the case, and would retract back inside it. With Apple, there’s no plan to widen the keyboard, rather to keep the current size and have it retract when not needed.
This patent is credited to five inventors, including Houtan R. Farahani, who has a previous related patent regarding “Enclosure features for a portable computing device.”
Stay tuned for additional details when they become available.
Via AppleInsider and the United States Patent and Trademark Office