Apple Patent Suggests MacBooks With Touch Controls

It has always been something of a fantasy to think that Apple could one day release a MacBook laptop with touch controls, similar to what Microsoft has done with Windows 8 hybrid devices which has the ability to transform itself from a regular laptop, to a tablet of sorts. Maybe one day Apple might embrace such design, but in the meantime an Apple patent has revealed plans for something that appears to be a tad more “realistic” in the form of a touch-sensitive MacBook in which the bezel of the laptop would come with touch controls. This would help eliminate the need for certain physical buttons which in turn could help reduce the weight and thickness of the device.

As you can see in the diagram above, the touch controls would be embedded into the sides of the laptop itself where users will be able to control certain features of the laptop simply by touching these controls. Right off the bat we are thinking about the media control buttons, such as volume adjustment, track skipping, pause/play, maybe even screen dimming, keyboard illumination, and so on. Apart from that, the patent also describes more advanced features, such as when the USB port is touched, USB options could pop up, or the computer could read aloud the name of the port for those who might be unfamiliar around computers. It’s a nifty idea but given that it was filed back in 2009, we’re not sure if this is a patent that might be sitting on the shelves or if it is something Apple could be working on for future devices. What do you guys think?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Computers
Tags: Macbook, Patent