MacBook Pro Touch Bar could be resurrected as an Apple Pencil-enabled strip

Apple has been working on how to make the iPad-centric Apple Pencil do the job of the old Touch Bar on future MacBook Pro surfaces.

This is just a patent, Apple gets thousands of them every year, and it doesn't mean any actual product will ever appear. However, sometimes you have to wonder what the idea was, like now that patent drawings show a MacBook Pro with an Apple Pencil holder.

That’s a Mac that can hold Apple Pencil. But you can't use the Apple Pencil on a Mac, or not yet.

Unless Apple is considering designing a MacBook Pro for very tidy people,

"Instaltable Tools Computer Input" represents a few hints. It seems unlikely that the patent's inventor expected people to draw and write on a MacBook Pro screen, but rather that they would sometimes use an Apple Pencil.

Specifically, they're using the Pencil in places that are at least roughly equivalent to where Apple used to include the Touch Bar.

"[Some] computing devices, such as laptop computers, may have a touch screen in or adjacent to the device's keyboard that may be configured to provide more functionality than a set of traditional keys," the patent begins. .

"However, in some situations, the secondary touch screen may be difficult to use," it continued. "Touch typists may dislike using a touch screen because it lacks tactile feedback compared to a set of mechanical movement keys." hand blocks the user’s view,” the patent says. "In addition, even if the user is looking at the touch screen, it is at a different focal length from the user compared to the main display, so the user must readjust their head or eyes to effectively read and interact with the touch screen. .."

It's a wonder Apple ever bothered with the Touch Bar. However, the company wanted to do something in this space, and it stuck with it. This bar can be replaced by a touch panel.

"A touch panel may include a touch-sensitive surface that, in response to detecting a touch event, generates a signal that can be processed and used by other components of the electronic device," Apple continues. "The display component of the electronic device may display textual and/or graphical display elements representing selectable virtual buttons or icons, and the touch-sensitive surface may allow the user to navigate and change content displayed on the display screen."

These seem to None immediately address Apple's criticism of the Touch Bar. The user must stop typing, find the pencil, remove it from the holder, and use it to write or tap on the touch-sensitive strip.

The stylus may be more natural than the Touch Bar

However, this is more natural than the Touch Bar. While it prevents users from typing, it feels more natural to look away from the screen to find the Pencil.

Instead of trying to memorize the controls for a tiny dot on the Touch Bar (which also moves), it's much easier to pick up a pencil.

Details in the patent show an enclosed Apple Pencil being slid across

There's one more thing, though. Some patent drawings show users tapping, touching or swiping on the Pencil.

The Apple Pencil can then display Touch Bar-like controls in the stand.

This patent is attributed to Paul X. Wang, Dinesh C. Mathew, and John S. Camp. Wang is listed on many of Apple's previous patents, including many more related to user input devices.

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