I love my MacBook Pro, and I’ve been buying these laptops for at least 15 years now. While I believe they’ve evolved well over time and the current iteration is hands down one of the best Apple has ever made, I still have two main concerns with the MacBook keyboard (and, in fact, all Apple keyboards).
The first issue is that the keys are made of plastic. While the MacBook keyboard looks great, shiny, and new at first, the printed characters fade and the keys get smudged over time. Even if you’re diligent about cleaning them, the plastic will eventually wear off, especially on the most-used keys. Examples include the right side of the spacebar and the A, S, W, D, and E keys.
The other issue with Apple’s laptops arises when buying them abroad, as they might not have the keyboard layout you prefer. While Apple allows you to order the correct version online, it could create problems for resale down the line, or even if you mistakenly buy a different keyboard style.
Fortunately, a newly granted patent (via AppleInsider) could solve both of these problems. According to the patent, a future MacBook keyboard could be made of aluminum with swappable key labels.
Instead of touchscreen keyboards, this design would still use a scissor-switch mechanism, but with aluminum keys instead of plastic. Personally, I consider this patent a potential game-changer, as the keys would likely maintain their appearance for much longer.
Additionally, this patent suggests you could switch from an English-style keyboard to a French one, and the key labels would automatically update to reflect the change.
Ultimately, Apple could create a MacBook that feels even more like “a single piece of aluminum” while also eliminating the need to ship different models to different countries, as one version could be compatible with all keyboard layouts.
As of now, this is just a granted patent. However, much like the potential lens flare solution coming to iPhone Pro cameras, this could very well become a reality in the near future.
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