Steve Jobs hates buttons. While he may not like the idea of touchscreen MacBooks, one path to achieve his dream of a flat, buttonless future is a keyboard without keys. It appears Apple just got another tap closer to realizing that vision.

PatentlyApple, who has been following Apple's quest for a keyless keyboard for over two years, reports that the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple last week that may have finally solved the keyless question. This patent is Apple's fifth dealing with keyless keyboards and includes their new piezo-based acoustic and capacitive detection system with a cool glass enclosure.

The problem, according to Apple, is that touch-sensitive surface keyboards can be less precise than traditional keyboards with, you know, keys. By utilizing a graphic display beneath glass showing a complete keyboard, and engineering a variety of haptic feedback mechanisms, acoustic pulse recognition system, and other devices such as one or more microphones, a seismometer, or an accelerometer, Apple aims to be able to accurately detect the acoustic pulse created by a tap on the keyless keyboard.

This research by Apple could be the foundation for a next generation Bluetooth keyboard for the iMac, or could represent the future of MacBook keyboards. Either way, while we admittedly do enjoy the occasional button, this would be one very slick keyboard.