Kuo: Apple to launch touch screen Macs, starting with OLED MacBook Pro

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today reported that Apple’s plans for touch screen Macs are advancing in the supply chain. He expects that the OLED MacBook Pro, due to go into production in late 2026, will also feature a touch screen panel.

This schedule was first predicted by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman two years ago. It is currently unclear whether the OLED MacBook Pro will ship in 2026, or whether it will be an early 2027 release.

Apple currently sells the M4 MacBook Pro lineup. Compared to where we are today, the OLED MacBook Pro is two generations away, in terms of Apple’s expected timeline.

First, the company will refresh the lineup with new M5 processors, likely early next year. The revision after that will be the redesigned OLED MacBook Pro model, likely powered by M6 chips.

Naturally, adding a touch screen brings the MacBook closer to an iPad than ever in terms of function. We have already seen Apple converge much of the platform’s software in recent years, with Tahoe featuring many shared UI elements with iPadOS 26.

Touch on the Windows laptop side of the market is nothing new, of course. Some customers like to scroll and zoom around documents and websites with their finger, rather than using the trackpad. Younger people who grew up in an iPhone and iPad world often expect touch to work everywhere, and can be taken aback when they discover that the Mac screens are not touch-sensitive.

Kuo says that after the OLED MacBook Pro launch, Apple is also considering adding a touch screen to the second-generation version of the upcoming affordable MacBook, slated to be powered by an iPhone A-series processor. This would suggest Apple will bring touch screens to the MacBook Air line, eventually, as well.