Apple Secures Patent for MacBook Tech Previously Dropped in Smartphone and Smartwatch Developments
Apple's got some interesting plans up its sleeve, apparently. They've filed a patent for incorporating the much-missed Force Touch tech into the MacBook's Touch Bar. Given Apple's recent penchant for niche reboots, this move, if true, is as surprising as it is intriguing.
The US Patent and Trademark Office recently published images showcasing an updated version of the Touch Bar, and the additional circuitry hints at Force Touch capability. This could mean that the upcoming MacBooks might feature a more responsive Touch Bar, which is a rather welcoming change for users who've been complaining about accidental taps for quite some time now.
For those unfamiliar, Force Touch is Apple's haptic feedback technology. It's capable of detecting minute pressure variations and responding accordingly, be it a gentle tap or a firmer press. Apple initially implemented this tech in its 2015 MacBook trackpad, as a way to preserve the functionality of a regular trackpad without the need for mechanical buttons. The iPhone also got a taste of Force Touch, dubbed 3D Touch, in the same year. However, it was later replaced with the less sensitive Haptic Touch starting from the iPhone 11 series. Apple's smartwatches too featured Force Touch from the get-go, until support was dropped for the watchOS 7 update this year.
However, the return of Force Touch to the MacBook Touch Bar raises a few eyebrows given Apple's history of abandoning the technology elsewhere. The patent, filed in May 2019, sheds no light on how Force Touch would function on the Touch Bar, but 9to5 Mac suggests that it could potentially reduce accidental taps, a common complaint among MacBook users.
In a nutshell, the Touch Bar—exclusive to the MacBook Pro at the moment—is an OLED touch display that replaced the row of programmable function keys in traditional keyboards. The Touch Bar was meant to offer more elaborate shortcuts and functions than a single mechanical key could, but in practice, users find they hardly use it, or if they do, it's usually by accident.
So, if Apple does manage to integrate Force Touch into the Touch Bar, it could potentially improve the user experience by offering more intuitive and interactive controls. Whether these improvements will be enough to breathe new life into the much-maligned Touch Bar remains to be seen. But hey, innovation's always intriguing, isn't it?
The patent for incorporating Force Touch technology into the MacBook's Touch Bar highlights Apple's commitment to improving the future of tech. This could potentially reduce accidental taps on the MacBook's Touch Bar, a common complaint among users. Given Apple's history of using Force Touch in its devices, the return of this technology to the Touch Bar is both surprising and intriguing. If successful, this innovation could significantly enhance the user experience of the MacBook's Touch Bar.
