The MacBook Pro line is set to undergo major changes in 2026 with touchscreen features and new interface elements. However, Apple won’t refer to them as touch.
Rumors about Apple bringing touch to the Mac have been going on for so long that the company had to share them and had no intention of merging the iPad and Mac. Instead, it looks like Apple will offer something in between without sacrificing the experience already available.
According to a report from Bloombergnew 14-inch MacBook Pros and 16-inch MacBook Pros with touchscreens will arrive by the end of 2026. These won’t be part of the March releases, but will instead be shared towards the end of the year.
The upgraded MacBook Pros will look similar to the existing models, but the display will be OLED and touch. There will also be a dynamic island at the top.
macOS already has a feature that brings Live Activity to the Mac from the iPhone, so Dynamic Island will be right at home on the hardware.
Apple hasn’t made macOS more touch-friendly, but it has more iPadOS-like elements than ever before. The message suggests that when using touch, the interface switches to a more touch-friendly mode.
The touchscreen will have features like pinch-to-zoom, fast scrolling, and easy-to-tap targets. When you tap with your finger, pop-up menus show a touch interface compared to a cursor-optimized interface.
However, Apple will not encourage users to use touch first. This product is also not intended to replace the iPad Pro.
The reason for this addition seems to be that more and more MacBook users are coming from touch platforms. Apple’s customer base starts with iPhones, iPads, Windows laptops or Chromebooks and are often confused when they find out that the display is not touch sensitive.
Previous rumors suggested that Apple was preparing a redesigned MacBook Pro with OLED in late 2026 or early 2027. This rumor of a touchscreen model fits that expectation and we give it a possible rating.