Just hours after rumors began to spread that Apple would hold a MacBook launch event at the end of October, an even more exciting report was published. According to The Wall Street Journal’s sources, Apple is planning to ditch the standard QWERTY keyboard in favor of a customizable E Ink keyboard in 2018.
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We originally reported on this futuristic keyboard last week, when an anonymous Reddit user claimed to have knowledge of a next-generation Magic Keyboard. The user also said that Apple was going to work with Sonder, a Foxconn-backed Australian startup, in order to build the keyboard, which was later backed up by a report in which the startup confirmed it had been in talks with Apple.
People familiar with the plans tell the WSJ that Tim Cook met up with the heads of Foxconn and Sonder on October 11th in China in order to discuss the keyboard, although all three companies declined to comment when approached.
WSJ’s report corroborates many of the previous claims, stating that the E Ink keyboard will come standard on MacBooks in the future, that they will be able to display any keyboard and that they will debut sometime in 2018.
Not only will the E Ink keyboards allow international and multilingual users to easily switch from one language to another, but they will also make it easier to include emojis in messages and execute special commands on the fly.
If you can’t wait that long for a customizable keyboard, Sonder is planning to launch its own standalone keyboard before the end of the year for $199.