MacBook Air 2021 Rumors: Retractable Keyboard Patent Could Make Future Notebooks Thinner

The MacBook Pro M1 is one of the slimmest machines one can get on the market right now, but perhaps some feel that Apple's notebooks can still be thinner. Could this come in the MacBook Air 2021?

That would depend on what Apple has up its sleeve. The company is known to come up with new features to make MacBooks lighter and less bulky, and one of them appeared in a new patent Apple has filed. The patent hints at the potential integration of a retractable keyboard in order to make MacBooks thinner.

The patent, first spotted by Patently Apple, showed a keyboard design that comes with a mechanism under the keys. This lets the keys retract each time the MacBook is closed. When in use, the keys pop out and function normally.

The key thing to note here is the magnets. A selectively magnetizable magnet system will hold the keys when the device is not in use. This should help bring down the total weight of the device if Apple does push through with it in the future.

As for the magnet system, all magnetized material will be demagnetized when the display portion of the MacBook is in the open position. This allows the keycap to move between an extended position and a retracted position. The magnetizable material may be magnetized when the display portion is in the closed position, thereby magnetically maintaining the keycap in the retracted position, according to the patent description.

This becomes Apple’s latest idea to improve MacBooks' design and appearance. They tried this with the Butterfly keyboard in the past, but efforts proved futile. This was used on the 12-inch MacBooks, but this model has since been discontinued.

Also worth noting is that new technology came with a cost, yet another reason why efforts to reduce thickness through its keyboards did not fly.

The new patent that could be integrated into upcoming MacBooks seems ambitious. Using a retractable keyboard relying heavily on magnets will certainly raise questions on prices. It appears promising, but the fact that it is only a patent means it is possible this may not make it to market.