Apple is continuing to study how to make the iPad centric Apple pencil complete the old touch bar work on the surface of the future MacBook Pro This is just a patent application. Thousands of such patents are granted by apple every year, which does not mean that any actual products will appear.
Apple's newly exposed patent application entitled "installable tool computer input" and the authorized patent of the same name in march2022 all provide some hints on Apple's idea. The inventor of the patent doesn't seem to want people to( https://apple.pvxt.net/c/1251234/435400/7639?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fcn%2Fmac%2F ) Pro draws and writes on the screen, but hopes they sometimes use Apple pencils. Specifically, they will at least use pencils in areas where apple used to include the touch bar.
Apple said in the patent application that computing devices, such as laptops, can set a touch screen in or beside the keyboard of the device, which can be configured to provide more functions than a group of traditional keys. However, in some cases, the auxiliary touch screen may be difficult to use, and users may not like to use the touch screen, because it lacks tactile feedback compared with a group of mechanical and mobile keys.
The patent does not seem to rule out the possibility of a touch screen Mac, but it focuses on strips similar to the touch bar. The position of the touch screen is generally close to the user's hand, so it may be easily blocked by the user's own hand. Moreover, even if the user looks at the touch screen, its position is different from the focus distance of the user compared with the main display screen, so the user must readjust their head or eyes to effectively read and interact with the touch screen.
Apple once worked hard for the touch bar, but now the touch bar may be replaced by a touch panel. The touch panel may include a touch sensitive surface that generates a signal that can be processed and used by other components of the electronic device when a touch event is detected. The display component of the electronic device may display text and / or graphic display elements representing selectable virtual buttons or icons, and the touch sensitive surface may allow the user to browse and change the content displayed on the display screen.
None of this seems to immediately resolve Apple's criticism of the touch bar. Users will have to stop typing, look for a pencil, pick it up from the holder, and then use it to write or tap on the touch sensitive strip. The details in the patent show the user tapping the pencil, or touching it, or swiping it. When the apple pencil is on the stand, it can display a control similar to the touch bar.