Apple is reportedly developing touchscreens for its Mac computers, as per a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The report suggests that the first touchscreen Mac could be a MacBook Pro with an OLED display, set to release in 2025.
Engineers are said to be actively working on the project, which suggests that the company is taking the idea of touchscreen Macs seriously. The first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen will retain its traditional laptop design, including a trackpad and keyboard, but the display will also support touch input similar to that of an iPhone or iPad.
Gurman further adds that the first touchscreen Macs will use macOS rather than a combination of iPadOS and macOS. iPhone and iPad apps can be used on Macs with Apple silicon chips unless the developer chooses not to.
The report also states that Apple has consistently rejected the idea of touchscreen Macs in the past, and this new development would be a significant change in the company’s philosophy. In 2010, Steve Jobs said that touch surfaces do not work well on MacBooks when held vertically due to arm fatigue, and in 2021, Apple’s hardware engineering chief, John Ternus, said that the Mac was optimized for indirect input and there was no reason to change that.
Better Implementation?
On Windows laptops, a touchscreen doesn’t add any extra features other than the touch input itself. But knowing Apple, the company is likely going to bring a host of new features to play with once touch input becomes a thing, especially since Apple itself is in charge of macOS.
Android punch-hole cameras vs Dynamic Island is an ideal example in this case. The latter is not just a big black hole, but also a small interface for your apps to show useful information.
Indeed, touch input would be a major step for MacBooks, but it is unclear if the design will stick around with future Apple laptops that follow up later on.
