Apple Patents A Dirt-Resistant Keyboard

When Apple launched the new 12-inch Retina MacBook, they also introduced a brand new keyboard for the laptop. This new keyboard is said to be thinner and offer less travel between presses, but unfortunately it also resulted in some problems as due to the thin profile, dirt, dust, and debris that gets caught can cause the keys to stop functioning properly.

The good news is that it looks like Apple might have an answer to that problem thanks to a recently published patent. According to the patent, it seems that Apple might have the answer to the dirt problem, which either involves sealing off any unwanted gaps (which also might have the potential to make it water-resistant), or introduce a membrane underneath each key that would blow out air everytime a key is pressed, which in turn will hopefully blow out any unwanted debris that might have got caught underneath.

The patent also sees Apple acknowledge the debris problem as they note, “residues from such liquids, such as sugar, may corrode or block electrical contacts [and] prevent key movement by bonding moving parts.” However given that the patent was filed in 2016, it means that it has been a while since Apple has filed it and given that we haven’t really seen this new feature in any of the new MacBook laptops, it is unclear if Apple plans to move ahead with it or if it will simply continue to exist as merely an idea.

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