Apple has finally put a touch screen on a MacBook, but as The Wall Street Journal’s Nicole Nguyen discovered while testing the new machine, the feature arrives on a premium laptop aimed at a narrow audience of high-end users rather than everyday consumers.
Nguyen got her fingerprints all over the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display during a hands-on session in Los Angeles. She found herself flicking her finger up and down to scroll through web pages the same way she would on an iPhone, zooming in on thumbnails, and tapping to open headlines. The experience felt natural in certain visual tasks, yet it also underscored long-standing questions about whether a vertical laptop screen is the right place for fingers.
The laptop starts at $2,899, about $900 more than the latest entry-level MacBook Pro, and is positioned for “superusers” willing to pay a premium.
Nguyen found arm fatigue a factor for general use, and interface targets often felt too small for comfortable tapping. The machine is also not compatible with an Apple Pencil.
Touch proved more useful in specific scenarios. Navigating a map with pinch and pan felt quicker than using the trackpad. In a video editor, moving the timeline cursor with a finger was simpler than the usual trackpad combination of holding a click while swiping. For someone who spends hours editing video and experiences hand cramps from heavy trackpad use, Nguyen noted that touch could offer relief — and that the biggest everyday advantage is simply not having to hunt for the cursor. Everyday macOS gestures work as expected: a tap registers as a click, swiping up from the bottom edge brings up the dock, and flicking a window to the side can tile it. Still, for routine computing she saw limited benefit.
A demo of an on-screen piano highlighted one limitation: the display does not lie flat, making musical play awkward, though the hinge held steady under pressure. Apple previously tried adding touch controls to the MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar in 2016, a feature many found imperfect; physical keys returned in 2021.
Nguyen concluded the touch screen could appeal most to creative professionals such as photographers and designers, or developers who want to test touch interactions for their apps. Windows makers already ship large numbers of touch notebooks — 33.4 million in 2025, up 22 percent from the prior year, according to IDC — but only a small share of buyers pay extra for the feature. For Apple, the high price means touch-screen Macs will remain niche for now.
Frankly, touch appears more like a bonus than the main attraction. The real standout is the new OLED PROLED XDR display, which delivers deeper blacks and higher contrast, similar to the technology on the iPhone. The laptop also gains the Dynamic Island for quick access to background apps, and it is roughly half a pound lighter and a centimeter thinner than the prior Pro model. The glowing Apple logo on the lid returns as well.
Apple has rolled out other updates this season, including lower-priced Macs and an OLED iPad Mini, but the touch-screen Pro stands apart as a high-end experiment. The company is testing whether a finger-friendly screen belongs on a Mac at all.
MacDailyNews Take: Is this the “Touch Bar 2” or will it actually get used and eventually filter down to the MacBook Air?
“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 a 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. It doesn’t work. It’s ergonomically terrible. Touch surfaces want to be horizontal.” – Steve Jobs
As a plus, think of the shoulder definition you could achieve with a new touch-screen MacBook Pro!
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“Who is it for?”
That’s a great question. Back in the days before touchscreen laptops existed, no one wanted anyone to touch their screen. Then Windows 8 made it a thing for some reason and it only took just slightly over a decade for to cave and introduce something people are still reluctant about. (A decade is impressive, love ’s restraint with chasing the latest fads, but come on.)
I’m not feeling this, I’m sure this new MacBook is every bit as impressive as previous models, but to quote an American Idol judge: “That’s a no from me, dawg.”
The comment that it is a bonus is correct. Nice to have for some things but most will use normal keyboard and trackpad.
Nobody existing Mac user wants or needs a touchscreen. They already know how easy the touchpad is on their Mac laptops.
This apparently is an attempt to lure iOS users who have never owned a real Mac or powerful PC where much more precise controls are available.
The dumbing down of electronics users continues……
Did no one learn any of the lessons from when Microsoft tried to combine a mobile OS with a desktop OS back in 2012 with Windows 8?
That was Apple’s job to answer, and they flubbed the presentation. Good job Ternus.