Apple’s rumored touchscreen MacBook Pro will be a “touch-friendly device, rather than one that’s touch-first,” according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.
Writing in Power On, Gurman said users will be able to easily move between touch-based and point-and-click inputs, thanks to changes coming in macOS 27 – set up in part by last year’s Liquid Glass redesign. However, Apple is said to be taking a conservative approach to touch-based input, offering it more as a “bonus” than a prominent feature.
“Before anyone gets too excited, the touch-based MacBook Pro will not feel like an iPad,” said Gurman. “This is the MacBook Pro you’ve known for the past two decades – with touch offered as a bonus.”
Users will be able to tap or click on-screen elements, and controls will change based on input method. If a user taps on a menu bar item, for example, it will display a larger set of controls optimized for touch. 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.
Anyone looking for more of a hybrid iPad/Mac experience will have to wait until 2029, when Apple’s foldable iPad could arrive – although even this is said to be “designed through and through as an iPad.”
The touchscreen MacBook Pro is expected to be released as soon as later this year, equipped with the M6 chip and an OLED display. The redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are also expected to have a hole-punch camera at the top of the display. Expect an iPhone-style Dynamic Island to house it, rather than the notch we’ve become accustomed to.
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