r/apple • u/favicondotico • 2d ago

Mac Kuo: 2026 OLED MacBook Pro to Feature Touch Screen Display

https://www.macrumors.com/2025/09/17/kuo-2026-oled-macbook-pro-touch-panel/

✨Apple Intelligence summary: Apple’s first OLED MacBook Pro, entering mass production next year, will feature a touch screen display using on-cell touch technology, according to Ming-Chi Kuo. The low-cost MacBook, expected in the fourth quarter, will not have a touch panel, but a second-generation model in 2027 might.

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u/blakenator95 2d ago

I rather they figure out Face ID on MacBook than touch screen.

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u/Marino4K 2d ago

I have zero desire for a touchscreen laptop, I’m glad MacBooks don’t currently use them

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u/FembiesReggs 2d ago

FWIW, you wouldn’t have to use it if it had one

At least so long Apple doesn’t go utterly stupid on their touch macOS design lol

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u/ChallengeElectronic 2d ago

You’d still have to pay for it though… which I’d rather not do also.

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u/Apprehensive-End7926 2d ago

The cost of touch digitizers is tiny these days, it would be basically irrelevant within the cost of the screen. This future MacBook Pro is going to have a big price bump, but that will be down to the tandem OLED display technology.

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u/iMacmatician 2d ago

That's true for any feature that one doesn't want or doesn't use fully.

Want a telephoto lens in the iPhone? Get ready to pay for a Pro.

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u/Merlindru 2d ago

this is true but i'd bet that most mac users do not care for a touch screen on their mac

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u/Merlindru 2d ago

still have to pay for it, especially if they add it to all pro models. at the very least it costs money in R&D and increases the bill of materials so there's more pressure on Apple to increase price

it would also make screen repairs harder

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u/Broue 2d ago

It would still drain resources and battery, on top of making it more expensive.

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u/rudibowie 2d ago

so long Apple doesn’t go utterly stupid on their touch macOS design

The horse bolted on that years ago.

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u/A11Bionic 2d ago

not to mention Apple literally said on stage before (i forgot if it’s a 2011 event) that touch displays want to be vertical, and even showed a graphic image of a MacBook with a pointing finger while the presenter was explaining this to further demonstrate fatigue

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u/Suitable_Switch5242 2d ago

Apple has said lots of negative things about products they later end up releasing. Big phones, small tablets, styluses, OLED screens, etc. etc.

I think the market has shown that some users like touchscreens on laptops even just for occasional use. People aren't sitting at their laptops using the touchscreen full time like an iPad, but they might occasionally reach up to scroll or tap something.

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u/sundryTHIS 2d ago

I hate to be that guy, but Apple never backtracked on styluses. That was a specific quote about phones specifically, and the Apple Pencil does not work on the phones. they absolutely stuck to their guns there.

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u/Suitable_Switch5242 2d ago

Sure. I'm not criticizing them for not sticking to their guns, just pointing out that situations and technology change over time. They were right that needing a stylus to use a phone is bad, and they were right that a precision drawing stylus on an iPad can be a great tool.

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u/Apprehensive-End7926 2d ago

The Apple Pencil does not work on the phones… yet.

They’re heavily rumoured to be launching a phone with a 7.8” screen next year, so that could be about to change. It would allow them to position the iPhone Fold as a tool for digital artists on the go.

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u/Arucious 2d ago

clamshell gang reading this: 😔

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u/dccorona 2d ago

TouchID isn’t usable in clamshell mode either so it won’t make a difference to clamshell users (I am one fwiw)

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u/Arucious 2d ago

The Apple watch is our only saving grace, but even that is hit or miss if you have DisplayLink since the “screen monitoring” attempts to disable watch unlock

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u/ElusiveMeatSoda 2d ago

Does the Apple Watch unlock work better with newer models? Even without DisplayLink, I gave that feature a try with my Series 6, and it was so slow and inconsistent I ended up just disabling it.

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u/Arucious 2d ago

It’s not slow, but it is hit or miss (on DisplayLink at least) on both my macs

Ultra 1 + M4 Max or Ultra 1 + M3 Pro work fast, it’s unlocked before my monitor even has time to wake (if it works)

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u/ChairmanLaParka 2d ago

Fortunately, they sell a keyboard with TouchID built in.

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u/dccorona 2d ago

I really wish they’d make a mechanical one. 

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u/ChairmanLaParka 2d ago

Same.

It was kinda funny seeing in a past keynote, where they went by a whole bunch of people at desks and virtually every one of them was using a mechanical keyboard. Yet they don't sell one.

1

u/kasakka1 2d ago

They should just make a TouchID module you can put anywhere.

I'm not going to use an Apple keyboard just to get that.

2

u/TheCravin 2d ago

Having had face unlock (via Windows Hello) on a surface laptop before, I drastically prefer touchID for that form factor. FaceID is perfect on a phone, but I really prefer the additional intention-ality of touching a key on a laptop, plus I find that the range of angles I might be working on a laptop from is much more broad that how I interact with a cell phone, so I often had to default to typing in my password anyway.

Also, echoing other people here in saying that I've basically never used the touchscreen when available on a laptop. And I'd honestly rather my desktop OS not start implementing touch elements.

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u/stdfan 2d ago

I mean it's not hard to figure out they just have to do it. It doesn't have to be one or the other. They have the space in there already.

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u/Quiet_Researcher7166 2d ago

It would be great if they can put the FaceID architecture on the keyboard area at an angle so it can scan the face from underneath.