Future MacBooks Could Sport Resizable Virtual Trackpads

Pretty much all laptops come with trackpads. After all, without trackpads, how are users expected to use the cursor on the screen unless they bring their own external mouse, which is not very convenient or practical for everyone. The trackpad concept has been around for decades, but it seems that Apple wants to shake things up.

According to a patent discovered by Apple World Today, it appears that Apple could be toying around with the idea that one day, a future MacBook laptop could come with a virtual trackpad that can be illuminated and resized according to your needs or usage.

The patent’s description reads, “The electronic device may also include a group of light-emitting elements positioned below the optical diffuser. One or more of the light control layer or the group of light-emitting elements may be configured to illuminate the dynamic input region to display a visible boundary of an active input area. At least one of a size or a position of the visible boundary may be dynamically variable.” 

It is an interesting idea, although we’re not sure how this is supposed to be “better” than the current setup. At most it feels more like an aesthetic choice, where the lack of a visible trackpad might look sleeker. In any case, it’s only a patent so there’s no telling if Apple really plans to make this a reality.

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