Sources: Apple is working on Macs with a touchscreen; the first model may be a MacBook Pro with an OLED display supporting gestures, set to be released in 2025
Apple Inc. is working on adding touch screens to its Mac computers, a move that would defy long-held company orthodoxy and embrace …
Later coverage adds that the touch MacBook Pro interface is being designed for both touch and pointer input, making the original report the start of a longer Mac interface transition rather than a standalone hardware change.
First-order effects
Apple’s Mac hardware and software teams must pair an OLED, gesture-capable MacBook Pro with an interface that works equally through direct touch and conventional pointing.
MacBook Pro buyers would gain a new input option on Apple’s premium notebook line, while the Mac’s established keyboard-and-trackpad workflow remains part of the reported design.
Second-order effects
Apple’s software unification goal makes touch behavior on Mac a product-design constraint for services and apps that span its device lineup, rather than a feature confined to one notebook.
The reported OLED touch panel raises the importance of display and interface differentiation in the MacBook Pro refresh cycle; later reporting ties that package to a slimmer M6 design.
Third-order effects
If Apple follows through on the touch-optimized, dual-input interface described in later coverage, the Mac platform would move from a strict separation between desktop and touch interaction toward a shared interaction model across Apple devices.
The extended timeline—from the initial 2025 expectation to later 2026–27 reports—suggests Apple is treating the shift as a coordinated hardware-and-software transition, not merely a panel substitution.
The trend: Apple is gradually converging Mac and touch-device interaction models while preserving the Mac’s pointer-based workflow.
Apple is working on its first Macs with touchscreens in a major reversal. The company has teams working on a new MacBook Pro with a touchscreen for release in 2025. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Of course it is an obvious next step. Now watch all the Apple commenters back out their longtime claims that touchscreens don't make sense on Mac (the famous small tap target nonsense). Touch Macs have always made sense, and in a few years, we'll all be able to confirm it https:/…
Apple's rivals have increasingly added touch screens to computers, putting pressure on the company to do the same. A Mac resurgence in recent years also has made the business a bigger moneymaker than the iPad https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
What would you rather see - a MacBook with a touchscreen or an iPad Pro/Magic Keyboard form factor with more capable OS/Mac app support? https://twitter.com/...
My approach to laptops with touchscreens hasn't changed. They're stupid and pointless and it's an idiotic form factor. Not sure why Apple would reverse its opposition to them really. https://twitter.com/...
I know this is an affront to a lot of the OG Apple users, but the key part of this is: it's not something that's required. If Apple enabled this functionality, you would never need to use it if you didn't want to! For the next gen growing up on touchscreen, this seems prudent htt…
do you think they are gonna be fucking normal about this and do the whole tent/360 hinge/tablet/pen thing or that they are just gonna stick a sensor on a regular macbook body with 0 thought, make a demo app or two, and send it to die https://twitter.com/...