Touchscreen MacBook Pro to Be ‘Touch-Friendly, Not Touch-First’

Apple’s rumored touchscreen MacBook Pro will be a « touch-friendly device, rather than one that’s touch-first, » according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.

Writing in Power On, Gurman said users will be able to easily move between touch-based and point-and-click inputs, thanks to changes coming in macOS 27 – set up in part by last year’s Liquid Glass redesign. However, Apple is said to be taking a conservative approach to touch-based input, offering it more as a « bonus » than a prominent feature.

« Before anyone gets too excited, the touch-based MacBook Pro will not feel like an iPad, » said Gurman. « This is the MacBook Pro you’ve known for the past two decades – with touch offered as a bonus. »

Users will be able to tap or click on-screen elements, and controls will change based on input method. If a user taps on a menu bar item, for example, it will display a larger set of controls optimized for touch. Touch-based options will be integrated throughout macOS, and it will support iPad features like pinch gestures for zooming in or out and fast scrolling.

Anyone looking for more of a hybrid iPad/Mac experience will have to wait until 2029, when Apple’s foldable iPad could arrive – although even this is said to be « designed through and through as an iPad. »

The touchscreen MacBook Pro is expected to be released as soon as later this year, equipped with the M6 chip and an OLED display. The redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are also expected to have a hole-punch camera at the top of the display. Expect an iPhone-style Dynamic Island to house it, rather than the notch we’ve become accustomed to.