If the core issues are that there's no tactile feedback and that button locations can shift depending on context, then Apple made the same mistakes that Dell did. The problem is that no matter how well-designed it is, a keyboard used for touch-typing is the wrong place for a smooth, capacitive sensor.
Both haptic feedback and pressure sensitivity are within Apple's capabilities. This could actually be an improvement (imagine feeling a virtual volume slider scroll with dampened resistance).
I'm not a fan of haptics when physical keys are an option. I believe that Apple can make a nice demo with vibrating indications of when the user's on a key, then detection of when they push down on it. What I don't believe is that it will be a better experience than feeling the edges of the keys and the actual descent and tap when depressing the key.
This seems like increased complication without any real gain. It's more sleek than usable, kind of like the touchpads with virtual buttons, rather than physical separate ones.
I agree that an actual volume slider would be useful, but I still doubt that there's a good way to present a row of buttons on a smooth flat surface in such a way that they can be touch-typed. Haptic feedback doesn't let you manipulate a typical phone app UI without looking at it.
Just wanted to point out that that's exactly what people said about software keyboards on phones vs hardware keys (and some still do, but most phones are now all software). It turns out that a big innovation in the first iphone was dynamically adjusting the touch boundaries of the keys + smarter autocorrect.
I don't think anyone would argue that a touch screen is better to type on than a physical keyboard though. It's just a sensible compromise given the size and weight limitations of an iPhone. Harder to justify on a (relatively big and heavy) laptop, but we'll see.
A phone's soft keyboard is a compromise for size. Compared to a hardware keyboard, it sucks to type on. If you want to type anything but gibberish, you stare at the keyboard the whole time you're typing.
A laptop with a hardware keyboard is large enough not to benefit from that compromise. I mean, a little touchscreen's not without its uses, but don't get rid of the keys that I expect to be there.
