Apple Tech Could Create Invisible Input Areas on Bezels to Replace Buttons
1st February 2022
Apple is continuing to develop technology that could allow virtually invisible input areas that can display information to a user while replacing physical buttons or controls on its products.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Apple covering a “concealable input region for an electronic device.” The patent, U.S. Patent No. 11,237,655, describes technology that uses microperforations to sense input.
Apple says the point of the patent is to do away with the “large buttons, keys, or other mechanically-actuated structures” used to sense inputs on a device. That’s because traditional input elements “may lack flexibility or adaptability and may permanently indicate the presence of the input device.”
As a Apple stockholder, I encourage them to do so.