MacBook Pro Likely to Get OLED Display and Thinner Design in 2026

[seek3r]

My wish for the next MBP is less cost to the RAM and SSD upgrades. Which is unlikely. <sigh> The huge cost of RAM upgrading in particular causes me to add two years or more to my MBP life cycle planning.

Magsafe, though nice, is not the huge value add it was originally when it replaced a connection that broke cables and routinely helped pull laptops to the floor back when we needed to be charging almost constantly. Today we only need to be plugged in to charge once a day and can easily do it in a safe location, usually while the whole household is sleeping

Also, many of us who learned to use the touchbar liked the touchbar a lot. Hardly an "abomination." Personally, I am equally OK with having a touch bar or not having a touch bar.

The touchbar was both crappy ergonomics/ux (you have to look down at your keyboard to use it) and so isolated that there was never going to be significant developer investment - only on the macbook pros, and only useful even on those machines when not in the clamshell mode most people use the machines in when docked at a desk. It was never available on the airs, imacs, minis, or mps.

If they really had wanted developer investment they would have added it to the external keyboards as well.

It was a doomed gimmick from the minute it arrived. Peak Ives form over function, especially when paired with unreliable keyboards

 

[mielie]

I specifically waited for two things before buying a Macbook Pro, the removal of the touchbar abomination, and the return of MagSafe.

edit: typo

I’ve got one of these hideous notch macs now, only because it was provided to me by work, fortunately I spend most of my time with it in docked mode and have never used the HDMI port. I still maintain my old M2 MacBook Pro with touchbar for using at home.

I’ll specifically wait for the reintroduction of the touchbar before spending money on another Mac laptop. And the MagSafe connector is useless for me because the only time my laptop is plugged in it’s into my studio display which is USB-C for display and charging. Apple need to innovate more, and not by compromising (which is what the notch is). For example the MagSafe connector is essentially the same as the original incarnation, but by now it should be capable of providing power and a thunderbolt connection. Apple are getting lazy and relying on consumer momentum and the reluctance of people to move away from their ‘eco system’. But things like the removal of ADP in the UK are changing minds.

The honeymoon period for Apple with M1/M2 is now over IMHO, some of the SOC devices from AMD are definitely nibbling at the toes of the M3 and M4. I’m quite tempted to try a Linux based machine with a Ryzen AI processor.

 

[seek3r]

I’ve got one of these hideous notch macs now

You do get you basically just get a pile more real estate because of that notch, and you can just hide it and have exactly the same amount of space you had before if you’d prefer?

I’ll specifically wait for the reintroduction of the touchbar before spending money on another Mac laptop.

I *highly* doubt that’s ever going to happen

And the MagSafe connector is useless for me because the only time my laptop is plugged in it’s into my studio display which is USB-C for display and charging. Apple need to innovate more, and not by compromising (which is what the notch is)

What’s your proposed replacement? The camera module has to go somewhere, until tech manages to get a good enough camera small enough there’s going to have to be some compromise somewhere

For example the MagSafe connector is essentially the same as the original incarnation, but by now it should be capable of providing power and a thunderbolt connection.

Eh, it’s not really aimed at that and, like most folks I suspect, I’d rather not have pcie connections terminated with a weak magnet on my laptop

Apple are getting lazy and relying on consumer momentum and the reluctance of people to move away from their ‘eco system’. But things like the removal of ADP in the UK are changing minds.

That’s not Apple’s fault, that’s the UK’s horrific “snoopers charter” bs in action…

The honeymoon period for Apple with M1/M2 is now over IMHO, some of the SOC devices from AMD are definitely nibbling at the toes of the M3 and M4.

Not really, they’re getting better but on perf/watt Apple’s winning easily, and on GPU they definitely arent offering a unified memory architecture that competes there.

I’m quite tempted to try a Linux based machine with a Ryzen AI processor.

Nothing wrong with diversifying your computing gear, though it kinda seems like your reasons why are a bit off

 

[smirking]

Eh, it’s not really aimed at that and, like most folks I suspect, I’d rather not have pcie connections terminated with a weak magnet on my laptop

Thing is... even that complaint is a bit off. What's being described does exist. You can buy detachable magnetic USB-C plugs that deliver power and data.

 

[mielie]

You do get you basically just get a pile more real estate because of that notch, and you can just hide it and have exactly the same amount of space you had before if you’d prefer?

I *highly* doubt that’s ever going to happen

What’s your proposed replacement? The camera module has to go somewhere, until tech manages to get a good enough camera small enough there’s going to have to be some compromise somewhere

Eh, it’s not really aimed at that and, like most folks I suspect, I’d rather not have pcie connections terminated with a weak magnet on my laptop

That’s not Apple’s fault, that’s the UK’s horrific “snoopers charter” bs in action…

Not really, they’re getting better but on perf/watt Apple’s winning easily, and on GPU they definitely arent offering a unified memory architecture that competes there.

Nothing wrong with diversifying your computing gear, though it kinda seems like your reasons why are a bit off

Apple retired magsafe and then brought it back. I’m sure there were some people who believed it was *highly* unlikely they would reintroduce it, but they did. Either way my statement wasn’t a prediction they would reintroduce a touchbar, but nevertheless that is what I would like and I meet and work with many other people who feel the same.

Innovation is part bringing things into existence that people either don’t think is possible or in some way pushes out the boundaries of technology. When I started out in IT in the 90’s there was a significant tribe who swore they would always need to plug their computers into a LAN cable
as Wi-Fi would not be able to achieve the same level of performance or reliability as a wired connection. Things change. The depressing thing for me is that Apple was one of those companies that changed them, now it seems less so.

Ditto with the camera module. There are other companies who have already found mode elegant ways to introduce a camera into the screen real estate without it being an unsightly notch. Personally I would be in favour of binning the camera entirely from the laptop, I use it so infrequently it would definitely not be worth sacrificing screen space for.

 

[seek3r]

Innovation is part bringing things into existence that people either don’t think is possible or in some way pushes out the boundaries of technology. When I started out in IT in the 90’s there was a significant tribe who swore they would always need to plug their computers into a LAN cable
as Wi-Fi would not be able to achieve the same level of performance or reliability as a wired connection.

It still doesnt…

Things change.

I agree but damn did you chose a really poor example

Ditto with the camera module. There are other companies who have already found mode elegant ways to introduce a camera into the screen real estate without it being an unsightly notch.

Yes, they did other compromises. I didnt say the notch was the only way, I said you had to make a compromise somehow right now. Dell for a long time stuck the camera in the bottom left on the XPS13 near the hinge, it had an awful angle but it didnt impinge on the screen. Bigger bezels are what most companies use, including Apple previously. Making the lid significantly thicker and using a pop-up camera is another option. They all are compromises. The notch is Apple’s, and for most people it works just fine, and for everyone else it gives you the option to hide it and just go back to having thicker bezels, the old compromise 🤷‍♂️

Personally I would be in favour of binning the camera entirely from the laptop, I use it so infrequently it would definitely not be worth sacrificing screen space for.

That’s a non-starter for literally everyone who has to work remotely in this day and age, and for most people besides. As you said, things change, people expect a camera without having to carry a separate one around

 

[AssassuN]

My wish for the next MBP is less cost to the RAM and SSD upgrades. Which is unlikely. <sigh> The huge cost of RAM upgrading in particular causes me to add two years or more to my MBP life cycle planning.

Magsafe, though nice, is not the huge value add it was originally when it replaced a connection that broke cables and routinely helped pull laptops to the floor back when we needed to be charging almost constantly. Today we only need to be plugged in to charge once a day and can easily do it in a safe location, usually while the whole household is sleeping

Also, many of us who learned to use the touchbar liked the touchbar a lot. Hardly an "abomination." Personally, I am equally OK with having a touch bar or not having a touch bar.

yup, this is all im looking for. make ram and ssd affordable, and the mbp is nearly perfect (will be perfect if Apple's software team gets back on track).

 

[arobert3434]

The touchbar was both crappy ergonomics/ux (you have to look down at your keyboard to use it) and so isolated that there was never going to be significant developer investment - only on the macbook pros, and only useful even on those machines when not in the clamshell mode most people use the machines in when docked at a desk. It was never available on the airs, imacs, minis, or mps.

If they really had wanted developer investment they would have added it to the external keyboards as well.

It was a doomed gimmick from the minute it arrived. Peak Ives form over function, especially when paired with unreliable keyboards

Not everyone liked it, but imo the Touchbar was (is) awesome. But you're right, limited market → limited motivation for devs. And while I've never understood those using clamshell mode – you're plugging in to a monitor because you want more real estate, but here's a whole second screen, probably higher quality than the one you have, and you'll just close it up and take poorer cooling to boot – they are a substantial contingent reducing it even further.

 

[ricketysquire]

I predict the touch bar is coming back for the 2027 model 🤣

Butterfly Keyboard: The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated

 

[Ursadorable]

Not everyone liked it, but imo the Touchbar was (is) awesome. But you're right, limited market → limited motivation for devs. And while I've never understood those using clamshell mode – you're plugging in to a monitor because you want more real estate, but here's a whole second screen, probably higher quality than the one you have, and you'll just close it up and take poorer cooling to boot – they are a substantial contingent reducing it even further.

My biggest complaints about the touchbar are:

Swapping physical tactile keys for capacitive keys. It's not a phone, physical keys with tactile feeling trumps ones making you wondering if you hit it, and in the right place.

Second, function keys should always have priority over media/context sensitive keys. Relegating function keys to a secondary feature is insane where you're required to hit a modifier key is dumb.