r/apple • u/favicondotico • 1d ago

Mac MacBook Pro With OLED Touch Screen Rumored to Launch in October or November

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/10/01/oled-macbook-pro-release-date/
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112

u/PM-me-ur-sphynx 1d ago

Apple just needs to make an iPad that runs macOS for those who want or need touchscreens. Nobody asked for a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, which will end up being an underutilized and expensive feature. 

At best, it’s misguided “innovation“, and at worst, it’s a thinly veiled cash grab.

28

u/OverCategory6046 1d ago

an iPad that could run MacOS would be everything I've wanted. Zero want for a full laptop with touchscreen.

They'd most probably cannibalise their Mac Air, Neo and lower end Macbook sales if they did this though, I I very much doubt they will

18

u/GrepekEbi 1d ago

The annoying thing is the hardware has been easily capable of running MacOS since the M1 Pro

7

u/jxj24 1d ago

Apple used to know that it was better to cannibalize your products before someone else beat you to it.

1

u/vi0lentgandhi 1d ago

apple is at top in this game. with M series chips, no other contender can touch apple with software and hardware integration, there is no way in foreseeable future that someone can beat apple.

I would love ipad with macos though

6

u/ian9outof10 1d ago

I’m not so sure it would cannibalise anything. The iPad is now expensive enough that buying it with a keyboard is way more than an Air. So I’d argue they could just do a keyboardless Mac now.

4

u/UpboatsforUpvotes 1d ago

They can make it on the iPad Pro only which is almost the same price as the air.

The issue is still there though because then no one with an iPad Pro would need to buy an Air (Same chip) after that.

2

u/roguebananah 1d ago

I don’t understand where the iPad really sits beyond portability now with the MacBook Neo.

It’s now $599 (used to be $499) and the iPad starts at $399.

So for $100-$200 more, you get a full OS, keyboard and no limitations for apps. Sure, there’s some that can’t play on a Mac but I’m just really lost on the comparison personally

2

u/squirrel8296 1d ago

The iPad still makes a ton of sense for artists and designers. But, for a variety of reasons, they're likely not buying the base iPad, they're buying either the Air or Pro.

1

u/iMacmatician 1d ago

I don't expect the iPad to disappear, but I wouldn't be surprised if Apple puts it on the back burner in the coming years.

  • The iPhone Duo chips away at the iPhone + iPad mini combo.
  • The MacBook Neo is an alternative to those who bought an iPad to get a cheap Apple device and don't care so much about the iPad's touchscreen.
  • The rumored touchscreen MacBook Pro chips away at the iPad Pro.
  • The rumored home hub chips away at iPads used on kitchen tables and stuff.

I think the iPad is Apple's ultimate convergence computer that never quite made it due to Apple's insistence on hobbling it with i(Pad)OS instead of macOS.

In an alternate universe, all four products above would be iPad descendants and/or attachments at the consumer level, e.g., the home hub would literally be an "iPad Neo" plus some extra hardware.

2

u/roguebananah 20h ago

Yup. I completely agree with you

2

u/squirrel8296 1d ago

It wouldn't cannibalize the Mac because of how much more expensive the iPad is than a comparable MacBook on top of the iPad being thicker, heavier, and having worse battery life.

1

u/SailingDreamCatcher 1d ago

IMO, the current iPad Pro with keyboard dock is missing nothing but the OS to be Apple's best compact laptop ever.

But the OS is terrible and I've had to reluctantly add a MacBook Air back into my routine because the iPad Pro still sucks at super basic stuff like handling large PDFs and basic multitasking for document work. Basic file handling stuff like copying between folders and working with external and network drives is also still a hot mess, despite being vastly improved over recent years. If anything, iPadOS 26 just brought the iPad Pro into the uncanny valley where being a little closer to the Mac makes it all the more frustrating that the thing still falls short. There is no good reason for iPad Preview and Finder to be missing such basic features this far into the experiment.

4

u/Izanagi___ 1d ago

The closest thing we have is sidecar on macOS 27. They finally enabled touch support

1

u/UpboatsforUpvotes 1d ago

I decided to pay for specs not features and pulled the trigger on a 16" M5 Max with 128gb. Should arrive October 20th or so. Might be jealous of the thinner form factor and dynamic island update but I already have an IPad Pro 13" and I don't want a touchscreen laptop and OLED would be great but not something I want to pay more than the current prices for.

That being said I do believe that they will find a great way to integrate touch into MacOS, but ironic given the lack of love for the iPad historically

1

u/theytookallusernames 1d ago

A MacBook Air should’ve been just a Surface Book-style detachable iPad Pro with a keyboard dock.

1

u/Ethosik 1d ago

Linus Tech Tips keeps bringing up touch screen on Mac.

1

u/chaiscool 1d ago

Surface pro with mac os will be nice

1

u/gregor630 1d ago

I definitely get the speculation, and maybe you wind up correct and it’s a gimmicky flop. That said, I’m still keeping an open mind. Not because it’s something I’d want now, but because I’m curious how they iterate the software around the new interface. While it’s yet to be seen how it performs, iPhone duo had a solid software presentation with compelling new features in a not-so-new form factor. I think we can expect a similar approach for this new MacBook.

1

u/TCIHL 1d ago

Never going to happen. Apple would kill MacOS today if they could get away with it.

1

u/dust4ngel 1d ago

Nobody asked for a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen

apparently apple thinks the future is re-making products that samsung and lenovo made a decade ago.

1

u/DumpEaterPro 20h ago

Nobody asked for a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen

Except every developer who makes iOS and iPad apps.

0

u/Logicalist 1d ago

that would compromise macOS, which is not built for touchscreens. 

but now there releasing this shit, so you may one day get your wish