FEBRUARY 2020 MACWORLD 172020” release. In other
words, what was
announced was
Microsoft’s intention to
ship this product almost
a year from now.
But still: Two iPads
hinged together to make a
laptop sandwich! Imagine
the possibilities. Given the
clear distinction Apple has
made between laptop
shapes (which run macOS),
and tablet shapes (which run iPadOS), one
would think not. Then again...
MACBOOK NEO
If you had considered longstanding trends
in Apple product design before the intro-
duction of the new 16-inch MacBook Pro
(go.macworld.com/m16), there
was a strong argument to be
made that Apple dreamed of
making a laptop keyboard
without any moving parts. The
low-travel butterfly keyboard
was one step in that direction,
but it backfired, as is seen by
the introduction of the Magic
Keyboard in the latest Mac-
Book Pro and due to show up
in MacBook models intro-
duced throughout 2020.
Has Apple learned its
lesson, and will never again attempt to
reinvent the computer keyboard? It’s
possible, I suppose. But isn’t the
unreliability of the butterfly keyboard due
to ingress of tiny specks of dust, crumbs,
and other detritus also evidence that
Apple’s desire to get rid of moving parts isApple’s attempts to reinvent the keyboard have been
lackluster. Is a virtual keyboard the answer?Microsoft Surface Neo.