We are used to seeing from time to time some patent registered by Apple that surprised us. It’s true, of course, that registering an idea doesn’t necessarily translate into it eventually becoming a tangible reality in one of its devices, but at least it helps us get an idea of ​​the interests of the company’s managers, as well as the ability of its designers and engineers to innovate.

Such interest is aroused by the patents registered by those from Cupertino that we even find websites dedicated exclusively to tracking them, where they constantly check the registrars that Apple usually uses. Of course, our interest doesn’t extend that far, but we like to note those that we find interesting for one reason or another.

This is undoubtedly the case a patent registered by Apple that suggests an interchangeable key that turns into a mouse. The application for it was submitted, as indicated in the document, in February 2022, although it is true that it was already mentioned in 2021 and that, moreover, in the said presentation we can read that this patent, now granted, is a continuation another, which was presented in February 2020 and which was also awarded then.

What this patent proposes, as you can see in the image above, is a seemingly normal key with a scissor mechanism (the most common among membrane keyboards), but when removed, it starts acting like a mouse. To guarantee its autonomy, it must integrate a small battery that remains charged when the key is placed on the keyboard and when it is removed, it must establish a connection, we can bet that via Bluetooth-LE.

The key is of course also elements necessary to capture movements and from what we understand it should do it quite accurately, as this system doesn’t seem to aim so much to be an alternative to the touchpad present in all MacBook models, as to offer a more precise tool that we may need at certain times (such as when we edit the image and similar tasks).

Making a patent like this a reality seems, without a doubt, quite a complex process, so it doesn’t seem very likely to come true. However, it could be a particularly interesting proposition for Apple laptop users who occasionally need a precise pointing device but don’t want to lug around a mouse all the time.