There are rumors this year fanning the possibility that the next MacBook Pro will come with an OLED row above the keyboard, which would possibly fit various apps and user needs. After that, several people got excited and even did mockups from the same row on a Magic Keyboard.
Now, the idea of ​​a keyboard shaping itself according to what the user wants has just gotten a little stronger. This is because some rumors suggest that Apple would be interested in a partnership with startup Australian Sonder – the one that created the first keyboard on the market made of e-ink.
All the buzz first appeared on Reddit, when a user posted this video claiming to be the supposed next Apple keyboard:
If you found it ugly, slow and weird, you are not alone. Despite the very evil comments on Reddit, the user claimed that it was a real prototype that appeared at an event by Foxconn itself which took place at a respectable university in China. After clarification, the The Guardian he got information that, in fact, the prototype is the Sonder keyboard, of which Foxconn is a partner, but that Tim Cook would have met with the company’s CEO to talk about a possible negotiation.
The idea is that the transition of the keys is done automatically, without delay none, unlike what you see in the video. On the official product page, Sonder highlights some advantages of the keyboard, such as, for example, the lack of decorating shortcuts as all of them can be just a touch away, as well as that the keys can all be customized. The keyboard is already in the testing phase and is expected to arrive at US $ 199 by the end of the year.
The negotiations between Sonder and Apple are already going on, but if this will really reach us, it is totally uncertain. Even if there is no partnership signed, it is very interesting to think of a keyboard like this – even if it is not an official Apple. Interchangeable keys can be a hand in the wheel for those who use different layouts (be it languages ​​or games – or we may even have emojis, social networks and other shortcuts literally at our fingertips).
[via iDownloadBlog]
