Customisable keyboard keys

Apple's patented keyboard design can change what's shown on the keys

- Phil King

Think of the Touch Bar, featured on certain MacBook models from 2016 to 2022, which changed its display and functionality depending on the context. Now imagine a similar concept applied to the keyboard itself, with each physical key having an LED-lit mini display that can change to show different letters and symbols. That's what may be coming our way in the future, as revealed in a recently filed Apple US patent application (US-12283442-B2).

Entitled 'One-Way Visibility Keycaps', the patent document describes keys with glyphs (ie, letters or other symbols) that are invisible to the human eye until lit by an underlying LED matrix display shining through a one-way visibility surface layer containing microscopic perforations.

The keycap body can include transparent glass with paint applied to the bottom, or include a layer with a metallic physical vapour deposition (PVD) coating to create a one-way mirror effect. According to the patent, the glass surface of the keycaps can have a 'pleasing, cool-temperature, high-quality feel and be designed to mimic the appearance of the housing surrounding the keycaps', so the keys could well have a metallic look.

Custom keys

As well as offering a sleek, minimalistic aesthetic for the keyboard when not in use, the design enables the glyphs on keys to be changed depending on the context. For instance, you can switch between different keyboard layouts, such as QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY and Colemak. And also between different keyboard standards or languages, such as ANSI, ISO, JIS, Korean and Chinese.