Apple is working on its first MacBook Pro with a touch-screen display, after years of arguing the technology should be saved for tablets, according to a new report.
The revamped MacBooks – code-named K114 and K116 – are expected to launch late next year or early in 2027, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
The new laptops will run on Apple’s latest line of M6 chips and come with thinner, lighter frames, according to the Thursday report.
OLED technology – which stands for organic light-emitting diode – will be used for the new laptop screens, sources told Bloomberg. Apple previously limited its use of OLED to thin iPhones and iPad Pros.
The new touch-screen computers will reportedly come with full trackpads and keyboards, so they can be used like a traditional laptop, too.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company is making other small tweaks to the updated MacBook Pro, like retiring the “notch” – a small, rectangular cutout at the top of the screen where the camera lives, according to Bloomberg.
Instead, the new laptops will have a “hole punch” design in which the camera is placed in a tiny circle at the top of the screen instead of a longer, rectangular bar. The idea is similar to the latest iPhones’ “Dynamic Island” displays, Bloomberg noted.
Apple has reportedly developed a reinforced hinge and screen hardware to prevent the display from moving around when touched.
The new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros will likely cost a few hundred dollars more than the current models, since they’ll contain more expensive parts, the report stated. Current MacBook Pros start at $1,599 and $2,499, respectively.
The company is hoping the new launch will convince customers to trade up from their older laptops to a more expensive model.
Apple did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
A line of touch-screen laptops represents a significant change for the company.
Since the late Steve Jobs ran the tech giant, Apple has argued that such displays should be saved for its iPads – fearful that a touch-screen MacBook could squash sales of its tablets.
In 2010, Jobs said “touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical.” His successor – current CEO Tim Cook – followed the same approach, joking that combining the touch-screen tech of a tablet with a laptop is like fusing a toaster and a fridge, Bloomberg noted.
But iPad sales have been slowing while customer demand for touch-screen laptops has grown.
The company is planning to wait for the market’s reaction to the new MacBook Pros before it develops any additional touch-screen Macs, according to the new report.
Apple has tried to gauge demand for touch-screen functions in the past.
In 2016, it introduced the Touch Bar – a thin, touch-screen strip that replaced different control keys at the top of laptop keyboards. But the idea proved unsuccessful and has since been phased out.
Apple also launched an iPad Magic Keyboard in 2020 so customers could convert their tablets into makeshift computers. It has become a top-selling accessory for the brand.
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