Some Apple fans have long wanted Apple to combine the features of the iPad with those of the Mac. Now it looks like this is actually going to happen. Rumors suggest that Apple is working on touchscreen Mac technology. This means that in a few years we could see the first touchscreen Mac.
This article summarizes everything we know so far about Apple's work on a touchscreen Mac. Let's get right into it.
Possible models
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple engineers are "actively" working on developing a touchscreen Mac. One of the first touchscreen Macs could be an OLED version of the MacBook Pro be.
How Touchscreen Macs Work
The first touchscreen Mac is expected to still have a traditional notebook design with a trackpad and keyboard. While retaining the standard notebook design, the device is expected to have a display that supports touch input like an iPhone or iPad.
The operating system
Gurman says the first touchscreen Macs will likely run macOS, the operating system that runs on the Mac. Apple currently has no plans to combine iPadOS and macOS, although the lines between the operating systems are blurring with the introduction of Apple Silicon Macs. iPhone and iPad apps can already run on Macs with Apple Silicon chips, unless a developer opts out of cross-platform functionality.
The History of Touchscreen Macs
Over the years, Apple executives have repeatedly stated that Apple has no plans to introduce a touchscreen Mac. In 2021, for example, John Ternus, Apple's head of hardware engineering, said that the best touchscreen computer is an iPad and that the Mac is "fully optimized for indirect input" rather than touch. "We've seen no reason to change that," he said. Apple's chief software engineer, Craig Federighi, said in 2020 that Apple believes that ergonomically, with a Mac, hands should rest on a surface because it is "tiring" to "raise your arm to poke around on the screen."
Has Apple changed its mind?
Touch-screen laptops from other manufacturers also failed to convince Apple. I don't think we ever looked at any of the other vendors and said, 'How fast can we do this?' Later in 2020, Federighi said that a touch-sensitive interface for the Mac was not under consideration and that Apple had no secret plans to change the way the Mac works. Apple has denied claims of a Mac with a touch-sensitive screen for nearly a decade.
The competition
Almost all PC manufacturers offer some kind of hybrid tablet/laptop with a touchscreen, many of them as all-in-one devices or convertibles. HP, Lenovo, Dell, Asus, Microsoft, Google and Samsung all offer notebooks with touchscreens. Apple's big competitor Samsung, for example, offers the Galaxy Book, which combines a conventional keyboard and trackpad with a touchscreen.
touchscreen Mac release date
The first Mac with a touchscreen could be launched as early as 2025, if the rumors are to be believed. But Apple still has time to change its plans. Whether we will actually see such a device in the end remains to be seen. (Photo by lia_russy / Bigstockphoto)
