Apple is finally bringing touchscreens to the Mac, marking a major reversal from the company’s longstanding position against the feature in anything but iPads, according to a Thursday report with tantalizing new details. The first touchscreen MacBook Pro reportedly will arrive in late 2026 or early 2027.
Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook Pro could arrive in late 2026
Apple is developing a redesigned MacBook Pro with a touch display, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman. The new laptop will feature a slimmer design and run on Apple’s M6 chips. (The M5 chip debuted yesterday, powering new iPad Pros, the new 14-inch MacBook Pro and an upgraded Vision Pro headset.)
Releasing a touchscreen MacBook Pro would put Apple in line with the rest of the PC industry, which adopted touchscreen laptops more than a decade ago. Reports about Apple’s work on a touchscreen MacBook Pro first surfaced in January 2023.
The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously dismissed vertical touch surfaces in 2010, saying they weren’t ergonomic. Current Apple CEO Tim Cook later compared merging a tablet and laptop to combining “a toaster and a fridge.” Apple’s 2016 Touch Bar experiment — a customizable touch strip above the keyboard — ultimately failed. Apple removed it from recent models.
What to expect from first touchscreen MacBook Pro
The new touchscreen MacBook Pros will include several notable upgrades, according to Bloomberg:
- OLED displays. The laptops will feature the same organic light-emitting diode technology used in current iPhones and iPad Pros. That will mark the first time this thinner, higher-quality display comes to the Mac.
- Hole-punch camera design. Apple will eliminate the notch at the top of the MacBook Pro screen in favor of a hole-punch cutout similar to the iPhone’s Dynamic Island, with display area surrounding the camera.
- Traditional controls remain. The laptops will keep their full keyboard and trackpad, so users can choose when or if they use the touchscreen. That mirrors the approach of PC makers like Dell, Lenovo and Microsoft.
- Improved hardware. Apple developed reinforced hinges and screen components to prevent the display from bouncing when touched. That’s a common problem with existing touchscreen PCs.
Pricing and availability
Due to premium components, the new 14-inch and 16-inch touchscreen MacBook Pros likely will cost several hundred dollars more than current versions, which start at $1,599 and $2,499, respectively.
Apple isn’t currently developing touchscreens for other Mac models. The company plans to gauge market reaction to the first touchscreen MacBook Pro before potentially expanding the feature. That’s a typical Apple strategy of introducing new capabilities on high-end devices first.
What’s next for Mac
In addition to the touchscreen MacBook Pro, Apple also continues to work on developing M5-equipped MacBook Air models for spring release, plus updates to the Mac Studio, Mac mini and two new external displays.
The company is exploring bringing Face ID to Macs as well, though that feature remains years away, Bloomberg said.
