Get your swiping fingers ready. In September, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with TF International Securities, posted on X that Apple will introduce touchscreen capability to the MacBook Pro for the first time with the launch of the OLED MacBook Pro in late 2026. And on Thursday, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman confirmed that info, noting that the company is “reversing course on a stance that dates back to co-founder Steve Jobs.“
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A representative for Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gurman said the new 14-inch and 16-inch machines are code-named K114 and K116 and will also have thinner and lighter frames and run the M6 line of chips.
After years of seeing how consumers use their iPads, Kuo believes that Apple realizes that “in certain scenarios, touch controls can enhance both productivity and the overall user experience.”
Most computer manufacturers already have touch-screen laptops.
Gurman notes that the new laptops will have OLED — organic light-emitting diode — technology, which is already used in iPhones and iPad Pros, but never before in a Mac.
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What’s next for the MacBook?
It’s been nearly two decades since Apple introduced the first MacBook. CNET’s Scott Stein believes that the iPad and MacBook platforms will eventually merge.
YouTuber Jon Rettinger, who has 1.65 million subscribers, agrees that the iPad and MacBook are “on a collision course with unity” and that consumers are always looking for the next level of interaction and form factors: in this case, a touchscreen.
But with the devices and their operating systems merging, Rettinger says a big question mark is what’s next for the iPadOS.
“How will that continue to evolve?” Rettinger said. “While I do think we’ll see an eventual convergence, the iPad will always remain a media consumption machine first, leaving the actual work for the Mac.”