Touchscreen MacBook: How Apple envisions the new interface
Apple reportedly plans to introduce MacBooks with touch for the first time, likely as early as this fall. What this means for the macOS UI.
Open MacBook: Soon with touch?
(Image: Omar Tursic / Shutterstock.com)
Apparently, it will happen this year: Apple plans to introduce its very first MacBooks with touchscreens. According to reports, the feature will be implemented in the MacBook Pro with M6 chip as early as fall 2026. The devices will reportedly come with a revised form factor (thinner), OLED displays for the first time, and presumably still in two sizes (14 and 16 inches). The central question now is how to imagine the operation. Because Apple has always rejected finger operation of notebooks. For example, the company's co-founder Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, announced in October 2010 that Apple had conducted numerous user tests with it. While it looks good in demos, it is ergonomically terrible- and you soon get the feeling that your arm is falling off. Result: Apple continued to rely on the (large) multitouch trackpad for its notebooks, while touch operation was introduced (also in 2010) on the iPad with an adapted interface derived from the iPhone.
Preparations with macOS 26
And yet Apple is implementing the first Mac touchscreen, as the financial news agency Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. According to the report, Apple plans a combined approach: macOS will also be operable by finger on the screen in the future, but there will be no compulsion. It already seems clear that typical and easy-to-use multitouch gestures for scrolling or zooming will be possible (e.g., “Pinch to Zoom”). However, macOS itself is not expected to change fundamentally, but to be able to adapt dynamically as soon as users lift their finger to the display.
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With macOS 26 alias Tahoe, Apple had already made numerous changes to the system. In addition to the controversial Liquid Glass Look by design manager Alan Dye, who has since moved to Meta, this also affected controls such as icons or notifications, which leave more space. The same applies to sliders and other UI elements. It is suspected that Apple has implemented initial steps towards touch operation here. Even the unloved rounder windows speak for this, as there is more space for “misses.”
Menus become larger under the finger
Apple's plan for macOS 27 now seems to be that the user interface will adapt automatically. If you don't use the touchscreen, the UI will look as before. If the finger comes close, new menus, among other things, will open, writes Bloomberg, providing relevant actions without having to click through menus. The goal is to provide users with the controls that make the most sense depending on whether they tap with their finger or click the trackpad.
An example is the menu bar: If you try to select an item here, it should become larger under the finger to make selection easier. Other menus, such as the emoji selection, will be displayed larger automatically. Finally, it is not planned that you will be able to type on the screen. Nor are there any plans to make the Mac display foldable so that the entire computer becomes a tablet, as is known from Windows systems.
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