40 Macworld • January 2022MAC
write on a mechanical keyboard that
looks and sounds a lot like something
I would have written on in the 1980s.)
Longevity also leads to ubiquity, and
ubiquity equals familiarity. Pretty
much everyone knows how a keyboard
works, and we can all pick up a
computer and start using it without
needing to familiarize ourselves with
how text input will work.
That’s boring and not cutting
edge... but it’s powerful all the same.
Everyone knows how it works. If
you want to change it, you’d better
change it for the better.
In fact, the only real recent
innovation Apple has introduced
to the keyboard is its rechristening
of the venerable Fn key – used to
toggle between functions on the
function-key row of the keyboard –
as the Globe key. iPadOS 15 makes
great use of the Globe key for global
keyboard shortcuts, but that globe
symbol also appears on the Mac,
and it seems like Apple is going to
lean into it as an additional layer
for keyboard shortcuts.IT’S HARD TO RESIST
And yet, it’s hard to imagine that
Apple isn’t still dreaming of ways
it could improve or reinvent the
keyboard. So despite the scars itbears from the mid-2010s, I’ve got to
think Apple designers and engineers
will continue to ask themselves if
there are ways they can improve the
input experience on Mac laptops.
A few years ago I pondered this
very question with more than a
little trepidation. Over the years,
we’ve seen patent filings for various
keyboard ‘improvements’ that made
it seem like Apple was driving to a
future where the physical keyboard
would be entirely replaced with a
second touchscreen. No moving
parts, no key travel, but maybe a
little tactile feedback. The ultimate
victory of the Touch Bar.
That seems... a lot less likely now.
In 2020 Apple introduced the Magic
Keyboard for iPad, which seems like
a pretty solid admission that physical
keys and a trackpad are the answer,
not just on the Mac, but on any
laptop-like device.
Still, there might be ways for
Apple to move input forward on the
Mac. Making the Mac’s display a
touchscreen is still out there as a
possibility, despite Apple’s refusal
thus far to consider it. A future
Mac that could be used with an
Apple Pencil is another possibility.
Ergonomic considerations probably
prevent this from being very likely. The