The MacBook Pro OLED Isn’t the Touchscreen Mac I Was Looking For
I’ve been on a mission for a decade and a half to see that Apple fuses its iPad and Mac lines into something that would be the best of both worlds. I’ve been told that iPads and Macs would never merge, and that touch would never come to Macs. Well, Macs have touchscreens now, or at least one of them: the awkwardly-named “MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display” is the very first, arriving November 6.
I’ve been reviewing iPads for years, and I also specialize in reviewing new forms of computing like VR/AR headsets and AI-enabled wearables. My hope is that these devices would evolve into true computers that could replace my laptop.
iPads have come awfully close, but the OS and app compatibility still creates a slight divide that means certain pro apps and browser tools don’t work the same. But iPads have the form, the touchscreens, the transforming designs, the modular accessories and support for the wonderful Pencil. I argued earlier this year that the MacBook Neo, with a similar-to-iPad price and an iPhone/iPad-level chipset, showed how close Macs and iPads are getting. I can see a connecting thread, and it excites me.
More from CNET
I say all this because the new MacBook Pros, which I haven’t tried myself, add touchscreens but barely do anything at all to the laptop’s design itself. Instead of folding back or even flat, the screen hinge merely tilts to standard laptop angles and hangs in place while you touch the upright surface.
While Apple is pitching the new MacBook touch features as a great way to interact with MacOS, it doesn’t look, at first glance, that MacOS has evolved to accommodate touch input in truly transformative ways…or in workflows that already perform wonderfully on iPhones and iPads.
Clearly, to me at least, Apple is on a transformation path. The iPhone Duo fuses parts of iPhone and iPad, and aims to augment the phone experience with that of a tablet. Similar opportunities lie ahead for Macs and iPads: sure, you may not want MacOS as it exists now on an iPad, but I’d definitely want a touch-evolved MacOS fusion to live on an iPad that could transform into every Mac/iPad need I desire. Would that be worth a higher price? Sure.
The touchscreen MacBook Pro we’re getting at the end of 2026 isn’t that computer. It’s not something most people can afford, anyway, at $2,899 and up. But when I think of touch on a Mac, kids and families using it come to mind. Or, drawing with the Apple Pencil, which you can’t do on this touchscreen MacBook. Or having it be a useful way to access apps that currently live on iPads and iPhones and could, in a pinch, run on the Mac. For iMacs, it could be fun. For convertible MacBooks, it could redefine what a Mac is relative to an iPad.
This feels like a foot in the door for Apple, and an odd one at that. The name “MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display” doesn’t even reference touch at all, and Apple’s marketing seems to underplay the touch-on-Mac debut. The real star of the show is the new OLED display, which truly is a pro feature for a MacBook. The touch extras feel like they’re added in as a bonus.
Now, it all could end up feeling better and more useful than I’m thinking right now. And yes, I’ve often reached up to my MacBook Air to touch the screen, especially after working on an iPad for a while. Almost all the other computers in 2026 have touchscreens, anyway, even in laptop form.
But with all the promises iPads already deliver on for touch, Macs deserve better. And I’m hoping 2027 is when Apple really gets into a transformative discussion about how touch-enabled Macs, and all existing and future iPads, can evolve next. The future Apple computer I’m envisioning doesn’t exist yet, but it’s getting close. And I’m optimistically thinking Apple can address it soon, but as always, you never know.
Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future. See full bio
The Latest from Scott
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.