Sensei's Morph is a trackpad with 20K pressure sensors and “overlays” for various functions
The Sensel Morph wants to be a bigger, better version of Apple's Force Touch trackpad — Earlier this year, Apple opened up some interesting new ways of controlling the MacBook …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple spent early 2015 making pressure a mainstream input: its Force Touch trackpad shipped on the new MacBook, and commentary framed it as the start of interfaces we feel rather than just see. Sensel's answer is to take the same idea out of the laptop chassis entirely — the Morph is a standalone surface with roughly 20,000 pressure sensors and swappable "overlays" that reconfigure what the pad does, pitched explicitly as a bigger, better Force Touch.
First-order effects
- Creators get a large programmable pressure canvas that no laptop trackpad offers: one device becomes a drum pad, art tablet, or control surface depending on which overlay snaps on.
- Sensel positions itself directly against Apple's embedded approach, betting that an open, modular pressure surface can do things the MacBook's fixed trackpad cannot.
Second-order effects
- As Apple extends pressure sensing beyond the Mac — reported three-level '3D Touch' on the iPhone 6s and Force Touch variants tied to the upcoming iPad stylus — accessory makers face a choice between building for Apple's closed haptics or competing on open platforms like the Morph.
- If overlays sell, the business shifts from selling hardware once to selling swappable function modules, a razor-and-blades structure Apple's built-in trackpad never created.
Third-order effects
- Pressure joins pointer and touch as a default input dimension across device categories, and trackpads stop being laptop-only parts — consistent with later leaks of trackpad-equipped iPad Smart Keyboards with cursor support (leaked code showed multiple cursors and right-clicking).
- Whether pressure input standardizes around Apple's integrated haptic stack or open sensor platforms like Sensel's will shape who owns the interaction layer for creative hardware.
The trend: Pressure-sensitive sensing is migrating from a single laptop trackpad into a general-purpose input layer spanning phones, tablets, and standalone creator hardware.