20th anniversary MacBook Pro: Everything you need to know about Apple’s touchscreen redesign

Touchscreen MacBook Pro: Release date

The touchscreen MacBook Pro has been in the rumor mill since Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman first reported on it back in 2023. While it’s always felt more like a fantasy back then, recent reports make it seem like it’s a near-certain reality.

When will that reality happen? Several reports (from both analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Gurman) state that the arrival date will be sometime in late 2026. That seems feasible; Apple tends to release its 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models during the last quarter of the year, with the one exception of the M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pro in January 2023 and the upcoming M5 Pro/Max coming next year.

Touchscreen MacBook Pro: Display

• Tandem OLED display
• Touchscreen interface

The display will be the marquee feature of the 2026 MacBook Pro. Several reports have stated that Apple will implement an OLED display. In Apple marketing parlance, that would be similar the Ultra Retina XDR display in the iPad Pro. Currently, Apple uses a mini LED (Liquid Retina XDR) display for its MacBook Pro models.

With the M4 iPad Pro, Apple introduced a Tandem OLED display, where two OLED panels are used to produce a high level of brightness. Apple will likely use the same tech in the 2026 MacBook Pro.

Brady Snyder / Foundry

Several reports have also said that Apple will implement a touchscreen interface in the MacBook Pro. Apple’s stance historically is that touchscreens don’t belong on a laptop, but times have changed, and Apple is changing with the times.

We haven’t heard anything about macOS 27 yet, but it’s likely to feature subtle design changes to better accommodate the new multitouch interface. Apple’s WWDC takes place in June, and while the company is unlikely to officially announce touch support for macOS, we could see obvious hints of a touchscreen Mac when macOS 27 is previewed.

Touchscreen MacBook Pro: Design

• Thinner than the current MacBook Pro
• Punch hole for the FaceTime camera

In case you haven’t been paying attention, Apple is very much into making thin devices. So naturally, Apple wants to make the 2026 MacBook Pro thinner, too, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The 2024 14-inch MacBook Pro measures 0.61 in (1.55 cm) when closed, and Apple plans to make the 2026 model thinner. The 15-inch MacBook Air is 0.45 in (1.15 cm), so we expect the 2026 MacBook Pro to still be a little thicker than the Air.

A report by Omdia seemed to indicate that the 2026 MacBook Pro will no longer have a notch that houses the FaceTime camera, but instead will have a punch hole for the camera. Gurman also reported that the notch will be dropped in favor of “a hole-punch design that leaves a display area around the sensor.”

Touchscreen MacBook Pro: Processor

Apple is expected to use the M6 chip series with the MacBook Pro. Early reports state that the M6 could be manufactured using a 2nm process that allows for better power efficiency and better performance.

If Apple makes the touchscreen Mac available with M6 Pro or Max chips, those chips could feature a new design. According to a report in October 2025, Apple is taking a new approach with the upcoming M5 Pro and Max chips by placing the CPU and GPU in separate blocks, thus allowing for more customization with core allocations. For example, a customer can choose a base CPU configuration and max out the GPU.

This new design will certainly make its way to the M6 Pro and Max, but it’s unclear exactly how high-end the touchscreen MacBook Pro will be. If Apple decides to offer only the base M6 chip in the touchscreen Mac, then it will likely have the same fixed CPU and GPU options as with the M4 and other previous chips.

Touchscreen MacBook Pro: Features

• 5G connectivity with C-series modem
• Apple N1-series chip for W-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread networking

Besides the touchscreen OLED, thinner design, and punch hole FaceTime camera, reports of other features of the 2026 MacBook Pro have been scarce, but should pick up as the release date approaches.

Apple

One new feature that is likely coming is 5G connectivity. Apple’s production of its own mobile modem is in full swing, with the C1X introduced in the iPhone Air. Reports have stated that Apple plans to include 5G connectivity in the MacBook Pro, but it’s not clear as to when it will happen. In August, Macworld contributor Filipe Esposito reported that Apple has tested an M5 MacBook Pro with a 5G modem, which seems to indicate that Apple is working on 5G connectivity for its laptops. The recently released M5 MacBook Pro doesn’t have 5G, but it’s possible the M5 Pro and M5 Max models will.

Apple also introduced the N1 wireless networking chip with the iPhone 17 and M5 iPad Pro, which is used for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread networking. Apple could use an updated N chip in the 2026 MacBook Pro, but like the C1X modem, it could first arrive in the M5 MacBook Pro.

Touchscreen MacBook Pro: Price

Here are the prices for the current standard configurations of the M4 MacBook Pro These prices are provided here as reference points.

14-inch MacBook Pro

• $1,599/£1,599: M4 with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, Thunderbolt 4
• $1,799/£1,799: M4 with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB unified memory, 1TB SSD, Thunderbolt 4
• $1,999/£1,999: M4 with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 24GB unified memory, 1GB SSD, Thunderbolt 4
• $1,999/£1,999: M4 Pro with a 12-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 24GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, Thunderbolt 5
• $2,399/£2,399: M4 Pro with a 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 24GB unified memory, 512TB SSD, Thunderbolt 5
• $3,199/£3,199: M4 Max with a 14-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 36GB unified memory, 1TB SSD, Thunderbolt 5

16-inch MacBook Pro

• $2,499/£2,499: M4 Pro with a 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 24GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, Thunderbolt 5
• $2,899/£2,899: M4 Pro with a 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 48GB unified memory, 512TB SSD, Thunderbolt 5
• $3,499/£3,499: M4 Max with a 14-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 36GB unified memory, 1TB SSD, Thunderbolt 5
• $3,999/£3,999: M4 Max with a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 48GB unified memory, 1TB SSD, Thunderbolt 5

Apple will likely offer similar configurations, but it’s unclear how much of a premium a touchscreen OLED display will command. Apple upped the price of the iPad Pro by $200 when it got a tandem OLED, so it’s likely the touchscreen MacBook Pro will have a higher starting price.