Report: Touchscreen MacBook Pro with OLED later this year
According to Bloomberg, Apple is building a Dynamic Island into an OLED MacBook – and a macOS that switches between touch and trackpad operation.
MacBook Pro on a desk, completely without touch here.
(Image: WeDesing / Shutterstock.com)
Major overhaul for portable Macs: According to insiders, Apple will launch its very first touchscreen MacBook this year, likely in the fall. It is said to be, reports the usually well-informed Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, the first OLED Mac models at the same time. So far, Apple has only used this display technology for the iPhone and the iPad Pro models. Both the 14-inch and 16-inch models will be revised. The use of the as-yet-unreleased M6 chip is still expected. Apple is also reportedly planning modifications to macOS to make touch operation sensible (or more sensible).
Dynamic Island on the Mac
The camera of the first touchscreen Macs will be located in a dynamic island, as known from the iPhone, the report continues. This can then also display Live Activities, which macOS 26 introduced, albeit initially only outside the EU. Technically, Apple apparently plans a “cutout” camera like on the iPhone, placed in the middle at the top. Current MacBooks have a notch, similar to the one Apple first introduced on the iPhone X in 2017. This is disruptive, among other things, because parts of the menu bar are covered. Whether and how the Dynamic Island solves this remains to be seen; it might move down a bit more.
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For years, Apple had emphasized that a touchscreen for the Mac was not worthwhile. However, there have been increasing rumors that there has been a rethink internally. However, the systems were not entirely touch-free: For years, Apple had installed an OLED-based function key bar in the MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar. However, this never caught on – neither was it popular with users nor was it widely used by software providers. Apple then removed it without replacement when redesigning the MacBooks starting from the 2021 model year.
macOS with Touch Operation
For macOS, Apple is also planning changes with the new MacBook Pro models. With the Liquid Glass Design in macOS 26, the company made initial preparations, according to Gurman. There is more space overall to hit touch targets. However, a complete overhaul towards iPadOS is not planned. For example, Apple does not intend to implement a touch keyboard. The touchscreen is reportedly intended to be just an additional input method alongside the trackpad. Standard functions like scrolling or zooming using multitouch will be available. Menus like the emoji picker are also said to be touch-optimized.
All of this is reminiscent of Microsoft's first touchscreen Windows attempts – how users will react remains to be seen. Steve Jobs once described notebooks with touchscreens as "ergonomically terrible" . Tech chief John Ternus most recently described the iPad in 2021 as the “best touch computer.” A change in this strategy was not considered necessary by Apple at the time, according to Ternus. The company likely changed its stance also because new functions could attract new target groups. OLED and new chips alone are apparently not enough for this.
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