In a post on Reddit, presumably verified by the moderators, one user reveals some details about the upcoming MacBook Pro. In the post the user indicates that Apple’s laptop keyboard will house a new feature no one knew the company was working on. The new keyboard is said to be E Ink and have the ability to be remapped on the fly with a variety of applications. The company that is reportedly working on the technology along with Apple is named Sonder and they do have a brief video of a prototype in action.
Some on the Reddit thread question why Apple would even want to make their keyboard remappable and there were a few reasons some readers gave that seem viable.
- Content producers. Great for Video Editing, Photo Editing, Music production. Maybe not as useful for the person that is a complete pro at it (though there are almost always shortcuts you don’t know/forgot about). That is still in line with Apple being very “prosumer” in those markets lately.
- Foreign countries – Basically any place where English isn’t the only language. Offers the ability to have access to an English keyboard as an option, which is convenient since a lot of communication is done on the internet and programing in English even if it isn’t the persons only language. There are also many languages that don’t map well to the keyboard or have a lot more modifiers like dots, dashes, umlauts etc.
- As you hold down the function keys, the keys with associated shortcuts change to icons with function labels.
- Games can use icons for keys.
- Keyboards are language agnostic.
- Dock on your keyboard.
- Notifications on your keyboard.
The original poster claims to have gone to a Foxconn event where the company showcased many technologies including this prototype and claims to have more embargoed information they couldn’t share. There are also claims that the keyboard will be produced as a standalone unit for use with iMac’s or as an external keyboard should you use your MacBook Pro as a desktop with a separate monitor. It’s an interesting concept and rumor but as always, take it with a grain of salt.
[button link=”https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/572ds6/video_tip_of_apples_new_smart_macbook_and_smart/?sort=top” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Reddit[/button]Last Updated on January 23, 2017.
