"Apple's tablet hardware launches in the last few years have also included keyboard and touchpad accessories, and this year's iPadOS 26 update in particular has helped to blur the line between the touch-first iPad and the keyboard-and-pointer-first Mac. In other words, Apple has already acknowledged that both kinds of input can be useful when combined in the same device; taking that same jump on the Mac feels like a natural continuation of work Apple is already doing."
"Touchscreens became much more common on Windows PCs starting in 2012 when Windows 8 was released, itself a response to Apple's introduction of the iPad a couple of years before. Microsoft backed off of almost all of Windows 8's design decisions in the following years after the dramatic UI shift proved unpopular with traditional mouse-and-keyboard users, but touchscreen PCs like Microsoft's Surface lineup have persisted even as the software has changed."
Touchscreen MacBook Pros are expected to enter mass production by late 2026 and will shift from Mini LED to OLED display panels. Interest in touchscreen Macs is driven by long-term observation of iPad user behavior and the growing use of keyboard and touchpad accessories for tablets. iPadOS 26 has narrowed the functional gap between touch-first tablets and pointer-first laptops, showing that combined input methods can be useful. Touchscreen PC adoption increased after Windows 8 in 2012, and despite software reversals, touchscreen devices like the Surface lineup have continued to persist.
Read at Ars Technica
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