A new Apple patent application, published today, describes what appears to be Apple’s end-goal with MacBooks: a screen-based keyboard with a realistic look and feel that still allows touch typing.
Apple has been gradually moving away from physical keys and buttons over the years. We saw the mechanical Home button on the iPhone replaced with a solid-state one, a haptic motor simulating the feel of a click before that was itself replaced by a swipe on the screen.
Apple has also begun that process with MacBooks…
Background
The first step was replacing the mechanical trackpad on the MacBook Pro with a Force Touch version which used haptic motors to simulate clicks. That happened in 2015.
A year later, the 2016 MacBook Pro replaced physical function keys with the Touch Bar, and it has been suggested that Apple’s move to flatter keyboards with less travel is all part of the process of preparing us for a screen-based keyboard future.
Read more at 9to5Mac.com