Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), will implement E Ink keyboards in MacBooks by 2018 according to information obtained today from sources within the company. The information comes only a week after it was discovered that Apple is negotiating the purchase of an Australian startup that developed keyboards whose keys are E Ink screens.
Sonder is the name of this company, it has already prepared the launch of a keyboard that is composed of E Ink screens, but if Apple buys it, the product will no longer reach the market. Instead, Apple wants to implement the keyboard in the future models of the MacBook, most likely those released during the next year.
Based on what you see in the video clip below, this keyboard with E Ink screens can be customized by the user. More precisely, each E Ink screen can display any image chosen by the manufacturer, by the user, or by the developer of the software used on the computer to which it is connected.
Sonder has already created a prototype of an Apple keyboard that has E Ink screens instead of QWERTY keys, and integration into a MacBook would be a small step. Of course, if Apple buys Sonder now, it will need at least a year to integrate the technology into its products, so it remains to be seen if the 2018 deadline can be met.
