Apple Patents MacBook Touch Bar with Force Touch Capabilities

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Apple has reportedly filed for a patent to bring Force Touch to the MacBook Touch Bar after ditching pressure-sensing technology in its smartphones and smartwatches. And honestly, given the chain of more and more niche to restart In recent years, I say why not.

On Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent application showing an updated version of the MacBook Touch Bar, discovered by Mac 9to5 Yes Obviously Apple. The new version looks virtually identical to the current version except for additional circuitry adding Force Touch capabilities, which indicates that we may see more features in the coming year. MacBooks redesigned

(outside the trackpad, that is).

Force Touch is Apple’s haptic feedback technology that can sense subtle changes in pressure and react differently depending on how hard you touch your device. The company started integrating it into the MacBook trackpad in 2015 to retain all of the functionality of a traditional trackpad without the need for mechanical buttons. Apple added the feature to its iPhones in the same year as 3D Touch, but it was later dropped and replaced by Haptic Touch. a less sens itive version

which has given up much of the capabilities of its predecessor, starting with the iPhone 11 series. smart watch line included Force Touch from the first model until the company abruptly support fallen with watchOS 7 earlier this year.

That’s why it’s surprising to see Apple doubling down on functionality with its series of laptops after the company ditched it elsewhere. The patent, originally filed by Apple in May 2019, does not specify how Force Touch would work on the MacBook’s Touch Bar, although, as 9to5 Mac points out, it could be used to avoid accidental touches – a problem for MacBook users. I complained for years on this point.

For now, Apple only includes the Touch Bar on its high-end laptop model, el MacBook Pro. The small OLED touchscreen replaces the strip of programmable function keys on top of a traditional keyboard, with Apple’s idea that the touch bar allows users to configure more elaborate shortcuts and functions than any mechanical key could handle. .

At least that was the idea. In practice, users complain that they never use the device, or if they do it’s a frustrating accident. After introducing the Touch Bar in 2016, Apple hasn’t reiterated the product in any meaningful way, and its excellent keyboard space makes activating it inadvertently too easy to do. Adding more sophisticated haptic feedback technology could certainly help on this front, which is why Apple could bet on Force Touch to inject renewed enthusiasm for the feature after letting it languish for the past few years.