Typing on a touchscreen is great for short messages, but try typing up long essays and long emails and you’ll start to miss the familiar feeling that you get from more conventional keyboards. This is why companies like Microsoft and Apple have included keyboard accessories for some of their larger laptop-replacement type tablets like the Surface and iPad Pro series.
However it seems that despite that, Apple is still envisioning a future where laptops with touchscreen keyboards are a possibility, thanks to a recently discovered patent (via Gizmodo) which shows that Apple has explored the idea of a laptop with a touchscreen keyboard. However instead of it being a regular touchscreen, this is a touchscreen with Force Touch-like capabilities.
According to the patent’s description, it talks about a “force-sensitive input structure for an electronic device.” Basically instead of typing on just a flat glass surface, it will actually be able to detect pressure and where your fingers are and will also be able to provide haptic feedback as you type.
An advantage that we can see to such a keyboard is that it is customizable and adaptable. This means that when using an application like Photoshop, the keyboard could be replaced with shortcuts for commands. It could also pull up a numberpad when using it with spreadsheets, and so on. Of course whether or not Apple decides to make this keyboard a reality remains to be seen, but it’s an interesting idea nonetheless.