the fully drawable keyboard is already here. expect apple to perfect it in three years one the other OEMs rush it to market and fail.

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/9/2/12769094/len...

They already have, I think. The force touch trackpads don't move - they give the illusion of clicking using haptics. Don't see why keys would be much more difficult.

What I was referring to was technologies that give not just the illusion of some click but of physical texture before a key is even clicked. If your fingers can't feel the keys before you even click them, IMHO it's a no go.

Well it would have to be much, much better than any haptic keyboard I've used so far. Those that I've used may give feedback, but it's nothing like using a keyboard.

I don't think the haptics are fine enough to allow for feeling the key boundaries with your fingertips.

I'd bet they will be one-day, or perhaps they are in a lab, but they can't achieve it at-scale, or at an acceptable cost. It's likely why they're trending the existing keyboards towards a flatter profile -- in preparation for the sensation they know they'll be able to pull-off in 3 or 5 or however many years it'll take to deliver a haptic implementation on their products.

Given that they have gone out of their way to create actual keyboards for the iPad pro line I don't think Apple is convinced a fully drawable keyboard is the way to go either.