Apple is said to be working on a MacBook Pro with an OLED touchpanel which would replace the function key row. The idea is that this touchpanel will provide contextual information and buttons depending on the app that is being run at the moment. Now obviously this is great for laptops, but how would one apply this technology to desktops?
How about keyboards? According to a post on Reddit, the poster who goes by the name of Foxconninsider claims that during a Foxconn event at Tsinghua University in China, apparently there was an Apple keyboard on display that featured e-ink displays for keys. This is said to be an early prototype and was designed for testing, meaning that there is a chance that it might never make it into a final product.
Reddit mods claim to have verified the poster’s identity, but whether or not their report is true is an entirely different story, but at least the poster is who they say they are, which is an employee at the university. Now the keyboard is said to be made by Sonder and apparently Apple is considering acquiring them for their technology.
By having e-ink keys, it allows the keyboard to be more contextual where it can allow users to change the language on the keys, or maybe offer up different modes where it could provide shortcuts for certain apps like Photoshop, or it could even have a gaming mode, and so on. It will be pretty exciting and it will be nice to see Apple update their Magic Keyboard, but until we actually see it for ourselves, take it with a grain of salt for now.
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