Highlights
- Apple has filed multiple patents for technologies that can debut in the future MacBooks.
- One such would include a retractable keyboard that will allow a thinner design for MacBooks.
- A selective keyboard backlighting system is also under works to light up only specific keys at a time.
Apple is reportedly working on a new line of MacBooks that will be thinner than their present self. The Cupertino tech giant's efforts were recently spotted in a new patent that also mentions a retractable keyboard on the devices.
It is essentially the retractable keyboard that will help Apple design a smaller MacBook in size than the present generation. "While the keys may need to be free to move when the computer is in use (e.g., to allow a user to type), the additional height requirements of the movable keys leads to a larger overall device size," Apple mentions in its patent filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
In the patent, the keyboard has been mentioned to have a "selectively magnetisable system" under the keys. The system will let the keyboard retract when the said MacBook is closed or "in other modes". To use them, users will simply have to open their MacBook.
The patent by Apple comes with sketches to showcase a MacBook using the magnetic keyboard design. The image shows how the keys will be retracted or expanded as required using a magnetisable material that will attract or repel a keycap as the action demands.
Apple mentions that this would be possible to use suitable material to produce a persistent magnetic field by being magnetised by a coil. Examples of such magnetisable material can be aluminium nickel cobalt iron material or a chromium cobalt iron material.
The whole system will understandably reduce the size of the MacBooks in the future. With this, we can expect lighter as well as more portable MacBooks from Apple.
Much more to come on future MacBooks
This is not the only patent around possibly MacBook technologies that Apple has filed lately. In one other patent, the company has further used a magnetised system to optimise the sleep mode of the MacBook when the screen is partially closed down.
When the lid position is reached beyond a certain degree, the technology described in the new patent will make use of magnetic sensors to put the device to sleep. With this, both the audio and the display of the MacBook will stop working.
As reported by Patently Apple, yet another patent filed by Apple also mentions a new and improved keyboard backlighting system. The technology will enable selective keyboard backlighting on the future MacBooks.
While there are several laptops with keyboard backlighting for easier visibility, the fact remains that these are strictly static and do not account for any major innovation in the area. The patent by Apple defines a system that can selectively light up the keyboard as per the use.
The system will allow different keys to be lit up, mostly based upon the function being performed on the MacBook. If the application uses some keys more than the others, those selective keys will be backlit for easier use as well as an optimised battery life.
Note that these patents indicate that the technology is still under works and might not necessarily mean that the technology will make its way to the Apple MacBooks soon. They do, however, generate a hope that the future MacBooks will be much more optimised and user-friendly than ever before.