Future Apple MacBooks Could Have Glass Haptic Trackpad: Read More

Apple has filed a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a future MacBook prototype with an all-glass trackpad. The patent covers a side-to-side trackpad with a force input/haptic output interface in the trackpad area made from various opaque or transparent materials such as metal, glass, organic or synthetic materials, etc. The user interface area of ​​the trackpad can be a protective cover made of transparent glass, sapphire, or plastic, that rests over the device’s active display area.

As spotted by Patently Apple apple has filed for a patents for a force input/haptic output interface for future macbook devices. This patent suggests a design change for future devices that would reduce the thickness of the MacBooks. Currently, there is a designated cutout area for a traditional trackpad. The force input/haptic output interface for trackpads will do away with this slot.

As seen in the patent, the design will feature a side-to-side, full-coverage trackpad area with no borders. The patent adds that the opaque or transparent trackpad area will be covered by any protective transparent materials like glass, sapphire, plastic, etc.

A figure present in the patent shows localized flexible regions on the force input/haptic output trackpad interface, which will also include a haptic actuator that will assist in the thickness reduction of the device.

Apple recently also secured the patent for a multi-layered flip phone for future iphone and ipad models. The patents covers a layer structure for curved, flexible, and foldable displays. A cover layer is supposed to protect the flexible display. This layer is composed of a transparent support material and a hard coat layer.