Something to look forward to: Rumors that Apple will launch a touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro have circulated for years, but it's set to finally arrive in late 2026. In addition to touch functionality, the laptop could also feature the iPhone's Dynamic Island, a hole-punch camera, and an OLED screen.
Apple has long taken the stance that touchscreens and laptops don't go together – Cupertino will happily point you toward its iPad line for that sort of thing. But it seems that the company has finally changed its tune.
Bloomberg's Apple sage Mark Gurman reports that the first touchscreen MacBook Pros will launch this fall. Also new will be a Dynamic Island replacing the notch. It will be smaller than the iPhone's version while offering similar interactivity. Like the handset, it will expand based on the app or feature being used.
Apple isn't positioning the new MacBook Pro as a replacement for the iPad. Gurman says the idea is to let owners decide how much they want to use the touch-input feature, blending it with the familiar point-and-click approach.
Gurman cites the example of a user touching a button or control, causing the interface to bring up a new type of menu surrounding their finger that provides more relevant options for touch commands.
Gurman writes that Liquid Glass introduced small changes that will make the transition to a touchscreen MacBook Pro easier, including touch-friendlier Control Center sliders. That could explain why Apple held on to the new look despite so many people hating it.
The new 14-inch and 16-inch OLED MacBook Pros are expected to have slimmer chassis than their predecessors, but the design will otherwise be almost the same.
Apple is set update the current MacBook Pros with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips this spring, while the OLED MacBook Pros will use the 2nm M6 and M6 Max chips when they land near the end of the year.
Touchscreen laptops have always been a more niche product – most people aren't going to buy one based on that functionality alone. The late Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs was completely against them. "Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical," he said in 2010. "After an extended period of time, your arm wants to fall off; it's ergonomically terrible." His successor, Tim Cook, echoed the same view in 2012, comparing touchscreens in laptops with combining a toaster and refrigerator.
Apple set to launch first touchscreen MacBook Pro with OLED and Dynamic Island this year
