Apple is preparing to reveal its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models with advanced OLED displays during a closed media gathering on October 28, 2026. The move reverses over a decade of executive resistance to touchscreens on laptops, placing Apple in direct competition with touchscreen Windows PCs that have dominated the market since 2012.
The October 28 Event in Los Angeles and the Shift to Touch
Apple has invited an exclusive group of creatives and journalists to Los Angeles for an event carrying the tagline Pro and tell
, where the company is expected to debut its long-rumored hardware. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the launch will introduce MacBook Pro models equipped with both OLED displays and direct touch input. While Apple has not formally confirmed the touchscreen feature prior to the showcase, the hardware represents a major pivot for a company that spent more than ten years arguing against vertical touchscreens on computers.
The new laptops will arrive in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, utilizing Apple’s M5 Pro and M5 Max silicon. Because Apple accelerated its M7 chip development and skipped the M6 series for high-end professional chips, the upcoming machines rely on the M5 architecture. Alongside the laptops, the company is expected to introduce an M6-powered iMac and an updated iPad mini.
Apple is now inviting some media to an all-day product launch experience on Oct. 28 in Los Angeles. This is for the touch-screen MacBooks, iPad mini, M6 Macs. https://t.co/6r4yyWiVr1
Steve Jobs, Craig Federighi, and a Decade of Resistance
Apple’s embrace of touch-enabled laptops marks a sharp reversal from its past leadership. At the Back to the Mac
event in October 2010, Steve Jobs dismissed the idea of touchscreens on computers entirely.
We’ve done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn’t work. Touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical. It gives great demo, but after a short period of time you start to fatigue, and after an extended period of time, your arm wants to fall off.
Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and former CEO
Subsequent executives maintained that hard line. In April 2012, Tim Cook mocked the mixing of form factors by telling analysts on an earnings call that you cannot successfully converge a toaster and a refrigerator
. Craig Federighi similarly argued in 2014 that slapping a touchscreen onto a computer does not automatically create a good user experience. When macOS Big Sur’s roomier design sparked rumors in 2020, Federighi insisted the layout was in no way related to touch
.
Should I dig up all the headlines about adding touch to Windows? All those that said no one understands how to use it? That touch doesn't belong on a real™ computer. Ugh I can't.This is _all_ about start menu. Apple doesn't even have one, though Spotlight Apps="just type"🤔 pic.twitter.com/YBWau2pf5j
Microsoft Faced Early Criticism for Windows 8 Touch Devices
Microsoft and its manufacturing partners entered the touchscreen laptop space fourteen years ago with the launch of Windows 8 on October 26, 2012. Early Windows touch devices faced heavy criticism, with publications questioning the compatibility of touch interfaces on traditional desktop form factors. Former Windows chief Steven Sinofsky, who led the Windows 8 launch, noted that the backlash was largely directed at the full-screen Start menu rather than touch input itself. Microsoft persisted, releasing the original Surface Pro on February 9, 2013, for $899, which established the 2-in-1 category that competitors eventually adopted.
Industry observers note that Apple’s arrival in the touchscreen laptop space follows established engineering solutions. Manufacturers solved the mechanical hurdle of wobbly touch displays years ago through specialized dual-torque hinges, such as the system Acer introduced with the Aspire S7 in 2013. Apple’s new MacBook Pro will similarly feature a reinforced hinge designed to prevent screen rocking during taps, along with rigid OLED panels featuring oxide TFT backplanes and advanced tandem OLED structures similar to those found in the iPad Pro.
Pricing and Availability for the New OLED Hardware
The devices could arrive in hands as early as November 6, 2026.
| MacBook Pro Model | Starting Price | Processor |
|---|---|---|
| 14-inch (M5 Pro) | $2,499 | M5 Pro |
| 16-inch (M5 Pro) | $2,999 | M5 Pro |
| 14-inch (M5 Max) | $4,099 | M5 Max |
| 16-inch (M5 Max) | $4,399 | M5 Max |