Apple's touchscreen MacBook could be coming soon: Here's what we know so far

With new iPhones arriving in September and more Macs expected from October, Apple is heading into one of its busiest hardware cycles in years. The most interesting machine could be a touchscreen OLED MacBook that sits above the existing Pro lineup.

Apple is about to get very busy. The company will kick off its next major hardware cycle with new iPhones in September, before turning its attention back to the Mac. New MacBooks are expected to arrive later this year, potentially from October onwards, and one of them could represent the biggest change to the MacBook formula in years: a touchscreen OLED display.

Apple has spent more than a decade arguing that touchscreens do not belong on Macs. Steve Jobs questioned the ergonomics of vertical touch displays, while Tim Cook once compared combining a tablet and laptop to putting a toaster and a refrigerator together. That position now appears to be changing. But the more interesting question is not simply why Apple is finally adding touch to the MacBook. It is where Apple plans to put it in the lineup, and how much it plans to charge for it.

This may not be a MacBook Pro

The most detailed reporting so far points to two touchscreen MacBooks in development, with 14-inch and 16-inch displays. Both are expected to use OLED panels, making them Apple's first MacBooks with the technology. The machines are also expected to be thinner and feature a redesigned hinge designed to prevent the display from bouncing when users tap it. Apple is reportedly working on a hole-punch camera and a Dynamic Island-style interface for the display.

But the biggest clue may be the branding. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has reported that Apple could position the touchscreen machine above the MacBook Pro, potentially using the "MacBook Ultra" name. That would make touch more than a new feature. It would become one of the reasons for creating an entirely new price tier.

The existing MacBook Pro would continue to serve professional users who want Apple's traditional laptop experience. The Ultra could become Apple's showcase notebook, combining OLED, touch, a thinner design and its most advanced silicon. Apple would therefore not be admitting that the MacBook Pro was wrong. It would be creating something more expensive on top of it.

Apple's Mac lineup is already changing

The touchscreen MacBook is arriving at an interesting moment for Apple's computer business. The company has just refreshed the Mac mini and Mac Studio, giving both machines access to newer Apple silicon. The new Mac mini is powered by the M6 chip, which Apple says is built using its second-generation 2-nanometer process technology. The Mac Studio, meanwhile, has moved to the M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips, with the M5 Max version starting at ₹2,79,900 in India.

That is significant because the M6 is Apple's first 2nm Mac chip, bringing the company's push toward smaller and more power-efficient processors into the mainstream Mac lineup. Apple is increasingly positioning its Macs not just around conventional performance, but around local AI and increasingly demanding workloads that can be handled on-device.

But the refresh has come with a catch for Indian buyers: the Mac mini has become significantly more expensive. The new Mac mini with the M6 chip starts at ₹99,900 in India, compared with ₹59,900 when the previous-generation M4 Mac mini launched. That is a ₹40,000 increase at the entry level, even as Apple moves the machine to its first 2-nanometer M6 chip.

That matters for the touchscreen MacBook because Apple is entering this product cycle with pricing already under pressure. A premium MacBook Ultra would not be arriving into a cheapening Mac ecosystem. It would be arriving at a time when the entry price for several Macs has already moved higher.

The timing is important

This is also why Apple's 2026 hardware calendar matters. September is expected to be dominated by the iPhone 18 generation and Apple's first foldable iPhone. Once that cycle is out of the way, Apple can turn the spotlight toward Macs.

The company has already refreshed its desktop lineup. New MacBooks could follow in October and the months after. That creates a potentially unusual sequence: iPhone first, MacBook next, with Apple silicon upgrades running through the Mac family at the same time.

The touchscreen MacBook would be the most radical product in that cycle. Rather than simply offering another processor upgrade, Apple would be changing one of the fundamental ways users interact with the Mac.

Apple has been preparing macOS for touch

The strongest evidence for the touchscreen Mac may not come from the hardware leaks at all. Apple has been making parts of macOS more comfortable with touch interaction, including support for direct touch input in Sidecar and gestures such as pull-to-refresh across applications.

The expected approach is not to turn macOS into iPadOS. Instead, Apple appears to be working toward a Mac that understands both touch and traditional input. Touch could be useful for quick interactions, scrolling, manipulating objects and navigating certain interface elements, while the keyboard and trackpad remain the primary tools for serious work.

That distinction is important. Apple does not need to make the Mac an iPad. It only needs to make touching the Mac useful.

The price could be the real story

There is a reason the potential MacBook Ultra branding is more interesting than the touchscreen itself. If Apple puts touch into the regular MacBook Pro, it eventually becomes a standard feature. But if Apple launches it as part of a new Ultra tier, the company gets to establish a much higher ceiling for its most advanced notebook.

And Apple has already demonstrated that it is willing to move Mac pricing higher. The Mac mini's recent price increase is particularly telling because it affects what has traditionally been Apple's accessible desktop Mac. At the other end, the MacBook Pro has also become substantially more expensive in India.

A touchscreen OLED MacBook sitting above the Pro could therefore become a genuinely premium product, rather than simply the next generation of Apple's professional laptop. For Indian buyers, that could mean an entry price well above the current MacBook Pro range once local taxes and duties are factored in.

ET Digital will be on the ground in Cupertino reporting for ET Digital as Apple's next iPhone generation is unveiled at the September 9 "Sunrise and Shine" event. The iPhone launch will be the immediate focus, but with Apple now stacking major hardware announcements across September and the months that follow, there is plenty more to watch.