De kleine revolutie van de haptic trackpad

Tijdens het Spring Forward Special Event vorige week maandag presenteerde Apple de nieuwe MacBook, en de aandacht ging sindsdien vooral uit naar hoe dun die is, hoe licht die is en dat er naast de audio-poort eigenlijk maar één aansluiting op zit: één USB-C poort.

Tijdens de presentatie liet Apple veel meer zien van deze nieuwe MacBook, één ding daaruit wat tot nu toe eigenlijk te weinig aandacht heeft gekregen is de nieuwe trackpad met de Taptic Engine en haptic feedback. Als je geen idee hebt waar dit over gaat, dan kan je daar wat meer over lezen op deze pagina van Apple, en hieronder zien in de presentatie van Apple zelf.

If you’re into magic tricks, stop by an Apple Store and park yourself in front of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro. Click around on the trackpad for a while. Voila! That’s the trick: It’s not actually clicking.

The illusion is one of Apple’s latest innovations: the Taptic Engine. Relying on a technique pioneered in research labs 20 years ago, it uses an electromagnetic motor to trick your fingers into feeling things that aren’t actually there. The motor’s precisely tuned oscillation makes it feel like you’re depressing a mechanical button, when you’re really just mashing your finger against a stationary piece of glass. I tried it at the Apple Store, and to call the effect convincing is an understatement. Within seconds, I was hunched over the machine like a lunatic, scrutinizing the trackpad from inches away, utterly convinced I was feeling a real click even though I knew there wasn’t one.

This phantom click is but one trick the haptic trackpad might be able to achieve. A recent update to iMovie shows Apple already is experimenting with others. These haptic flourishes are a hint of what’s to come: A future where we feel interfaces with our fingers - not just on desktop trackpads but on smartphones as well.