Apple plans to introduce touchscreens to its premium MacBook Pro lineup this fall, according to a Bloomberg report. The upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch models will feature OLED displays for the first time in the company’s laptop history. This display upgrade is reportedly enabling the inclusion of a Dynamic Island-style webcam cutout, similar to the feature found on iPhones. Previously, Apple has used OLED technology on iPhones, Apple Watches, and the iPad Pro, but never on a laptop.
The new laptops will include a “dynamic interface” designed to adapt based on where users touch the screen. According to the report, this system aims to smooth the transition between mouse and touch inputs. When a user touches an onscreen button, the operating system will pull up contextual menus containing options relevant to touch commands. Interface elements, such as the macOS menu bar, will enlarge to make items easier to select with a finger. Standard touchscreen features like smooth scrolling and pinch-to-zoom for images, files, and web pages will also be included.
Despite the addition of touch capabilities, Apple will not include a touchscreen keyboard on these models. The laptops will retain their physical keyboards. While Windows laptops have offered touchscreens and dynamic interface elements for some time, Apple is late to adopt this hardware feature. However, the company may be positioned to succeed due to macOS’s existing touch-friendly design and its investment in porting touch-based iPad apps to the Mac platform. This background could help the touchscreen MacBook experience feel functional immediately upon release.
