Apple’s Touchscreen MacBook is years late, but I’m still curious
It’s finally happening—the Apple touchscreen MacBook is reportedly coming soon. Apple spent years insisting Macs didn’t need touch, while Windows laptop makers shipped one touch-enabled model after another. Now, Apple’s more than a decade late to the party.
I’ve used touchscreen laptops and 2-in-1 convertibles and, honestly, I don’t think most people need them. But if the rumors are true, Apple’s planned touch integration is worth a look.
The Apple touchscreen MacBook is arriving late
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, as reported by Engadget, Apple’s first touchscreen laptop could debut “on or around” October 27. It may be called the MacBook Ultra, and it’s expected to run the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips as the current high-end MacBook Pro.
Nothing unpredictable there. What’s still unknown, though, is Apple’s take on touchscreen tech. Can Apple make touch feel like a natural addition to macOS? I’m not so sure.
I don’t need to poke at my laptop screen all day; I have an iPad for that
I owned a touchscreen laptop back in the 20-teens and, at the time, I wasn’t impressed. The screen wasn’t nearly as responsive as a smartphone or tablet—it got stuck all the time. Clicking, too, felt like an effort. By the end of a year, I barely used the touch features.
And now I know why. My iPad is already great at all of that stuff, and it’s in a shape I actually want to hold and carry with me. A touchscreen laptop never did that well.
Still, I can see where touch on a Mac could help: zooming into photos, or hitting a quick on-screen control without hunting for it with the cursor.
The rumored adaptive interface
And that’s where the rumored adaptive interface comes into play. Bloomberg has reported that tapping a button could open a touch-friendly contextual menu, and elements like the menu bar could enlarge for fingers. If it ships that way, Apple could have something worthwhile there.
Something like a MacBook that could double as an iPad, maybe? That’s the hope. And if the touch display is as precise as an iPad, we’ll have a genuinely exciting new MacBook option.
Apple needs to give us a reason to reach for the screen
So what would win me over? Touch that complements the trackpad and keyboard. I don’t want to switch between them every few minutes just because my computer happens to be a touchscreen.
I’m also waiting for answers about screen ergonomics—how comfortable it will be to use and, crucially, its size and weight. If it’s easy to carry and not outrageously priced, we could be golden.
What I’d like to see? A touchscreen MacBook that lives up to Apple’s standards for quality and design—and adapts well to everyday work and life situations, areas where the company has always excelled.
I’m curious, but Apple has to convince me
An Apple touchscreen laptop is intriguing because Apple waited so long to make one. And that leaves consumers and tech journalists wondering: do good things come to those who wait when it comes to touchscreen tech?
I already love my Mac and iPad. Can Apple combine both into an equally compelling product? I’ll be watching.
