Touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro Coming in 2026 With Dynamic Island and Redesigned macOS Controls

[JohannesO]

No thanks

(and this is the version WITHOUT touch functionality)

 

[The Game 161]

Hopefully Gurman has it wrong and this is a low-end model MacBook. Maxsumers like myself dont wanna smudgy MacBook screen

don't touch it then?

 

[Jamie0003]

As you can see both systems are coming closer and closer with each iteration. This will continue till they be very close but maybe not the same.

They should just merge them at this point. Discontinue iPad Pro, keep iPadOS going on the other iPads and make the new MacBook pros either have a keyboard that folds backwards, or detachable.

If they are going down this route, there’s no point having both devices exist separately, the lineup is already confusing enough as it is now

 

[macfacts]

The island was already obnoxious enough, now we're gonna have greasy finger prints to deal with.

or use some self control and don't touch the screen.

 

[Mackan]

A 360 hinge could be something to consider if they add touch screen. Like the Thinkpad Yoga models, and many others.

 

[splitpea]

We knew this was coming with the OS redesigns making the UI bulkier and oversimplified. Just have to hope they don’t ruin the non-touch experience any further in the name of this. 🤮

 

[bollman]

Or just don’t use the touch screen.

Then you are just paying a lot of money for a feature you don't want. Doesn't seem like a wise choice.

 

[n-evo]

Then you are just paying a lot of money for a feature you don't want. Doesn't seem like a wise choice.

It’s probably not the reason why I’d be buying a M6 MacBook Pro. I doubt the touch aspect will amount to the biggest price hike anyway. But it’s gonna be interesting to see how much more expensive the full package is going to be.

 

[HaHaRich!]

Hard to believe they'll bring new models 9 months apart.

Meanwhile other models can't get an update for years.

Less. 9 Months put it in December. You don’t release a new retail product in December, you’ve missed the holiday buying spree. You have to release in November otherwise you are dealing with literally hundreds of thousands of returns. Apple’s holiday return window goes into early January. So either a week into January 2027, or November. The last time they’ve done that iirc is the MacBook Air 2020 transition to M1 MacBook Air for holiday 2020 (source: disappointed owner of the last Air with a fan)

 

[The Game 161]

Less. 9 Months put it in December. You don’t release a new retail product in December, you’ve missed the holiday buying spree. You have to release in November otherwise you are dealing with literally hundreds of thousands of returns. Apple’s holiday return window goes into early January. So either a week into January 2027, or November. The last time they’ve done that iirc is the MacBook Air 2020 transition to M1 MacBook Air for holiday 2020 (source: disappointed owner of the last Air with a fan)

october seems most likely

 

[macfacts]

Gonna have to rename it to SmudgeBook Pro.

or spaghetti book, throw it at the wall and see what sticks.

 

[tonmischa]

but what I can't understand is why they object to a MacBook even allowing this.

Because it makes the thing more expensive? And one has to pay for a feature that one hardly uses?
You do not really think that the TouchScreen will be optional, do you?

 

[zwi]

Will Apple's macOS touch optimizations pave the way for macOS on iPad?

More likely they will further castrate MacOS and turn it into a severely fenced golden cage. I am approaching the point, where I shall migrate to Linux.

 

[zwi]

Is there a reason why MacRumors has seemingly changed its editorial policy so as to state process technologies as now belonging to Apple? This has appeared a few times recently in this format, and I can't work out how it's justifiable.

Yes, it's a minor detail, but it's also repeat disinformation - Apple does not manufacture semiconductors, and does not have a '2-nanometer process' or any semiconductor 'process' of any kind. TSMC has a 2-nanometer processes, over which Apple has no ownership.

We'll see about "Apple's 2nm process" once China invades Taiwan...

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I wonder if this device will sit above the regular MacBook Pros' as a 'Studio' variant? Perhaps the screen will fold outwards like the iPad Magic keyboard...

That may go some way to solving the issue of screen angle, as then the screen could be laid flat like an iPad without the inference of the keyboard and trackpad.

But at the point I would have to ask, why go to such lengths to design a more elegant solution when we already have it in the iPad and Magic Keyboard accessory?

 

[Unami]

Yeah, bring it. I need to update my M4 MBA in around 6-7 years - the sooner they introduce oled to the MBPs, the sooner it'll trickle down to the airs.

 

[capamac]

it is ironic

A little toooo...ooo ironic.

 

[AltecX]

While id love a M5 OLED macbook, i could not care lessa bout dynamic island or touch ability. Most people I know on Windows machines either never use it or actually disable the hardware for it.

Only a few I know use it while reading long documents, or to pinch/zoom while their laptop is physically in their lap and its easier to touch the screen than the touchpad. Like when on a bus or train.

 

[admbarry]

I don't think that a touchscreen MacBook makes any sense, but if it is the case, I believe that it will be optional. I would not choose this option for myself - I absolutely detest fingerprints on my screen.

OLED on the other hand makes perfect sense. I would love to see this.

Since I'm still rocking a 16" MacBook Pro (January 2020), an OLED MacBook Pro could be my next laptop.

 

[SpotOnT]

Apple is updating macOS to make it more touch friendly. Users will be able to tap or click on-screen elements, and controls will change based on input method.

And the nightmare begins….

 

[SpotOnT]

You have to keep in mind they won't REQUIRE you to touch the screen with your greasy fingers.

No. But they will require you to use a worse version of macOS that is designed to accommodate big greasy fingers in addition to precision input. They will require you to use a screen that is degraded with a touch sensor layer.

Lots of downgrades here for people who don’t want a touchscreen.

 

[magbarn]

Hard to believe they'll bring new models 9 months apart.

Meanwhile other models can't get an update for years.

Apple released the last intel MacBook Pro just a short 6 months right before they released the new Apple Silicon model. That’s the biggest change in MacBooks in over a decade. I was one of those suckers that took a bath in trying to get rid of my MacBook Icelake model after the M1 came out.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

The issue is, it is pretty clear that in macOS Tahoe, Apple has ALREADY designed the UI with a future touch interface in mind. The damage is already done and now we know it isn't going to be corrected in macOS 27 as many had hoped instead they will have to continue leaning into the weird bubble design and inefficient use of space and horribly huge corner radii to support the new touch screens.

Well, you can’t really say that was unexpected.
Apple has never, ever gone all in on a new design language across any of their operating systems and then reversed it just a year later, that was never going to happen.
No idea why there was ever this silly expectation that macOS 27 was just going to reverse everything done by macOS 26, that has never been how Apple rolls.
Sure, there will likely be plenty of tweaks, but the fundamentals of Liquid Glass, the bubbles, the rounded corners, the use of transparency, is here to stay for at least the next five years, likely closer to ten.
You can have your own opinion on it, of course, but anyone getting excited about 27 simply because they didn’t like the design of 26 is needlessly getting their hopes up to inevitably be met with disappointment.

 

[Janichsan]

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.

You mean like the pinch gestures I can already use on my MBP right now? On the trackpad? While my arm rests comfortably on the desk?

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Because it makes the thing more expensive? And one has to pay for a feature that one hardly uses?
You do not really think that the TouchScreen will be optional, do you?

I think the people complaining about the touchscreen making the thing more expensive are being disingenuous.
The $99 HomePod Mini has a touchscreen, the $59 Apple TV remote has a multitouch pad.
The $300 iPad regular has a touchscreen.
Surely you realize the hardware for multi touch costs basically nothing in 2026, especially when it’s integrated directly into the OLED.
This isn’t 2006 anymore, it’s not even 2012.
If anything is going to make the new MacBook Pro more expensive, it’s going to be the increase in RAM and SSD prices, the tandem OLED display itself (the display, not the touch sensor) and the brand new fresh off the Fab 2NM chips.