The Touch Bar first appeared on MacBook Pros in 2016, and reception to the feature was mixed. The patent suggests two ways a Touch Bar-style keyboard could be implemented: as a giant OLED display where the keyboard goes on a laptop, or as a peripheral you could attach to another device, like an iPad or as a detachable 2-in-1. Additionally, the document mentions that polarizers could keep the screens from reflecting each other, which could be extremely distracting on a device with so many reflective surfaces. Since this is in the patent stage, don’t expect to see this on hardware in an Apple Store anytime soon. What’s more the Touch Bar has received a pretty muddled reception since its arrival. While it looks cool, it hasn’t proved useful in many apps, and some have found the Touch Bar to be more of a gimmick than a useful addition to Apple’s laptops.
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