After years of rumors and speculation, it looks like the first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen is finally almost here. If the latest leaks are to be believed, the device is currently in testing within Apple on macOS 27.2, and should arrive within the next month or so.
This new MacBook Pro won’t just be a current model with a touchscreen. We are expecting a full redesign of Apple’s iconic laptop: visually distinct, with an OLED display, Dynamic Island cutout, and of course a touchscreen. There are design and functionality changes to macOS to support touch, too. We don’t know what it will look like, but the expectation has been that it should seem familiar—everyone knows what a “MacBook” is supposed to look like—but thinner and lighter. In Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter, he lets us know that last point will be especially true.
Gurman says the new OLED and touch MacBook Pro will be “significantly lighter” (emphasis his), with a lot of attention paid to redesigning the interior of the machine, minimizing and consolidating parts to make it lighter and easier to carry. The current 14-inch MacBook Pro is 25 percent heavier than the equivalent MacBook Air, at 3.4 pounds for the 14-inch model (compared to 2.7 pounds for the 13-inch Air). The larger 16-inch model is 4.7 pounds, compared to 3.3 pounds for the 15-inch Air. That’s a 42 percent weight difference.
It would hardly be cause for such emphasis on being dramatically lighter if Apple had achieved only a 10 percent weight reduction, and if it’s 20 percent lighter or more, it’s entering MacBook Air territory. We don’t yet know if the touchscreen MacBook will come in the same sizes or introduce a new sixe at, say 15 inches, but it’s safe to say it will be at least 14 inches. So a “significant” reduction in weight means it will almost certainly clock it at under three pounds, which will definitely be noticeable when carrying it in a bag.
