Future MacBook and iPad devices might come with a ‘keyless keyboard with force sensing and haptic feedback’ feature, AppleWorldToday reported. That is how the futuristic keyboard has been described in the patent application that Apple filed. Apple said the keyboard has been designed keeping in mind the requirements of future devices or operating systems. The said keyboard will have far greater flexibility that is otherwise impossible in the current keyboard design where each of the keys is hardwired to a particular functionality and cannot be changed.

Apple said the keyboard they are working on will have both user flexibility as well as greater customization options hitherto impossible with current keyboard designs, be it on-screen or mechanical keyboards. The Apple keyboard is better in that it offers tactile feedback while letting users map keys to different functions as the need might be. The said keyboard adopts a keyless design but, as already stated, it will be able to offer haptic feedback for enhanced user convenience.

Mentioned here is Apple’s abstract for the patent: Apple’s abstract of the patent: “An input device for an electronic device includes an enclosure and a top member defining an input surface having multiple differentiated input regions. The input device further includes a first force sensing system associated with the first area of the top member and including a first group of the differentiated input regions, and a second force sensing system associated with a second area of the top member and including a second group of the differentiated input regions.

“The input device further includes a touch sensing system configured to determine which input region from the first group of the differentiated input regions corresponds to the first force input and to determine which input region from the second group of the differentiated input regions corresponds to the second force input.”

Lastly, as it is with patent filings, there is no guarantee it will ever see the light of day, or if it does, when. Let’s wait and see.