{"id":52317,"date":"2026-06-18T14:56:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=52317"},"modified":"2026-06-18T14:56:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:56:24","slug":"macos-touch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/18\/macos-touch\/","title":{"rendered":"macOS Touch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dan Moren<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Second only in speculation to the folding iPhone might be the reported MacBook Pro that will be Apple’s first Mac with a touchscreen.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

A preponderance of drawing related features are specifically making their way to the Mac, including both in Notes and in Freeform. Those features have existed on Apple’s touch-first platforms for some time, but this is their first jump to the Mac. While nominally this will work with your trackpad or even using an iPad as input, it’s not hard to imagine a future where you might be able to draw right on your Mac’s screen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Joe Rossignol<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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“MacBook Ultra” is the rumored name for a new high-end model above the MacBook Pro. The laptop is rumored to feature an OLED display, touch-screen capabilities, a Dynamic Island, a thinner design, and M6 Pro and M6 Max chips.<\/p>\n

macOS 27 includes a trio of hints about touch-screen support and a Dynamic Island in particular.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Hartley Charlton<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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macOS 27 Golden Gate adds pull-to-refresh support to the Mac, adopting one of iPhone and iPad's most familiar gestures for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Hartley Charlton<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Apple has added direct touch input to Sidecar with macOS 27 Golden Gate and iPadOS 27, allowing users to tap and interact with macOS interface elements using a finger on their iPad for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Steve Troughton-Smith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Unsurprisingly, UIKit-based iOS and Catalyst apps seem to handle touchscreen macOS better than AppKit apps, with all the little touches like swipe-to-go-back that you might expect.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

David Price<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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In a post to Weibo<\/a> on Thursday, the leaker known as Instant Digital made a characteristically terse comment on the upcoming product. “It’s 100% confirmed that the MacBook screen will be touch-enabled,” they wrote (translated from the original Chinese using Google Translate).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Craig Grannell<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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A touchscreen MacBook Ultra would face a similar challenge [as the Touch Bar]. It would launch as a niche, expensive device in a sea of non-touchscreen Macs. Developers would need to bet Apple was committed to rapidly rolling touchscreens out across its entire laptop line to justify their investment.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I don’t expect a touch screen to need<\/em> as much developer buy-in as the Touch Bar.<\/p>\n

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The only way a MacBook Ultra makes sense to me is if it zips past that period of compromise. Which means a screen that detaches and effectively becomes an iPad, so you get a great laptop and<\/em> a great touchscreen device. That sounds a lot like an iPad running macOS or, for that matter, a Microsoft Surface or any number of Windows hybrid laptops.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Steve Troughton-Smith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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NSMenuUseGlassWindowStyle<\/code><\/p>\n

NSMenuEnableGestureTracking<\/code><\/p>\n

macOS and iPadOS are moving closer together every day 🙃 Presume this will be enabled for the upcoming touchscreen MacBooks<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n