Giant Mac trackpad

Apple has filed a patent that potentially dispenses with a physical keyboard on its portable Macs for a larger trackpad, giving fingertip touch and click input. Cupertino has filed for a “configurable, force-sensitive input structure for electronic devices” with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The mechanism would see a sense layer laid beneath the external metal case that is activated by force applied from above. Ditching the physical keyboard could make the MacBook Pro thinner and lighter than its current 2.41cm thickness and 2.06kg weight, making it more like the Air while making the Air even more, well, air like. ®