Apple has filed a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a keyless, glass-based keyboard that could be the future keyboard for all Mac devices.

The keyboard which uses new piezo-based acoustic and capacitive detection system is the company's fifth effort in designing keyless keyboards. There have been three other keyboard patents from the tech giant in 2011 alone. This time seems to be a winner.

Keyless keyboards have been less reliable in determining whether a user is actually pressing a button or just unintentionally resting on the key. Some touch screens need to be tapped several twice just to detect the command. Apple's solution to this problem is by using piezoelectrics and capacitive buttons to differentiate between actual input presses and accidental ones. The flat surface keyboard will utilize acoustic pulse recognition to detect a tap on the surface of the keyboard.

The keys will be painted on the glass surface or provided as graphics on a display screen located below the glass surface, according to the report from Patently Apple. Other features would be an LED backlit keyboard which could shift for other types of key interfaces. This could be used in gaming or in other editing apps to help users.

Of course Apple users shouldn't expect this new keyboard any time soon on their new hardware but if it works this keyboard could be the next step for traditional hardware. The design seems to solve the problems inherent with touchscreen keyboards and gives it the hi-tech aesthetic Apple appeal like glass cases. Time will tell if the design will be the death knell for the mechanical keyboard but like all Apple patents, it is still very exciting.