Apple is expected to announce its touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro on October 27. On October 26, I still find it impossible to really grasp who this machine is for and if anyone is really crying out for what seems to be a MacBook More-Pro.

There have long been rumors of Apple's plans to release a new laptop that will sit above the current 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros in its lineup. It may or may not be called the MacBook Ultra, although it seems unlikely at this point.

The name is just one question mark that continues to loom large over what should otherwise be an exciting new laptop. There's talk of an OLED display, a first for Apple's Mac lineup, as well as Apple's almost range-topping M5 Pro and M5 Max silicon.

We've also heard claims of a (slightly) new industrial design, with Apple ditching the familiar notch and replacing it with an iPhone-like Dynamic Island. A lighter, possibly even thinner construction has also been rumored.

And then, there's the main point that this laptop rumor has hung its hat on for what feels like forever. The new not-MacBook-Ultra-but-also-maybe is expected to be the first Mac with a touchscreen.

But as the 2007 meme also ponders, "y tho?"

A break from tradition

Apple, famously, once argued that touchscreen laptops were a big no-no. None other than Craig Federighi, Apple's head of software engineering, argued as much at a time when every other company was falling over themselves to bring touch to their computers.

"We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do," Federighi said when discussing the possibility of bringing touch to the Mac in June 2018. "I don't think we've looked at any of the other guys to date and said, how fast can we get there?"

He went further, arguing that Windows touchscreen laptops were nothing more than "experiments." But just two years later, things were changing.

Close-up of a modern tablet screen showing a scenic beach and rocks wallpaper, with calendar and photos widgets, against a blurred indoor background with shelves and purple lighting

The OLED MacBook Pro may be the end of the notch

A patent published in 2020 highlighted Apple's work to bring touch to the Mac. At the time, it was suggested that users could touch their laptop display to interact with an iPhone or similar device.

Fast-forward to October 2026, and it seems Apple is finally ready to launch a touchscreen MacBook Pro.

But again, I'm left wondering why.

More importantly, I'm wondering who such a feature is really for, and how it will actually work. Apple's macOS is designed with cursor input in mind, with small targets like window controls that just aren't built to be tapped with meaty fingers.

Apple already makes software that's built with a touch-first mindset. It's called iPadOS, and you can get it right now on an array of computers called iPads.

You can even try it out a bit with Sidecar. It's pretty nasty business, though, unless you're using an Apple Pencil.

I'd argue that Apple was right the first time out when it said that poking a laptop display doesn't sound like a fun way to use a desktop or laptop computer. I've yet to see a use case that makes the hassle, or the fingerprints, worth it.

There's little else here

The problem is, without the touch element, this impending MacBook Pro announcement makes even less sense. If it's going to use the same chips as the current model, and we agree that touching it is lunacy, there's little else going for it.

The move to an OLED display will be the headline-grabber, sure. OLED promises deep contrast and vibrant colors plus lightning-fast response times.

But anyone who has used one of Apple's mini-LED laptops will tell you that they already boast stunning displays. Almost too bright in some instances, with gorgeous colors and strong contrast figures.

Open laptop with black keyboard and screen showing a rocky shoreline wallpaper, clear blue-green water, and a colorful application dock along the bottom

Nobody accused Apple's Liquid Display XDR of lacking brightness or anything else

If the move to OLED brings the end of the notch, then so be it. But I don't foresee many MacBook Pro buyers ditching their current laptop just to get a Dynamic Island.

And if the new model does use the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, it won't be any faster than its predecessor, either. Yet it'll presumably command a higher price.

Which again raises the question, "y tho?" I could get behind the idea of an OLED MacBook Pro if it were replacing the current models wholesale, but it doesn't appear to be the case. Apple announced a new non-OLED 14-inch MacBook Pro this very day, after all.

The way I see it, there are only two ways that the fabled OLED MacBook Pro makes sense. Either it has some knockout feature that hasn't leaked yet, or Apple has an especially compelling story for the features that have.

In lieu of either, for now at least, I'm left wondering just what market a new OLED MacBook Pro really serves.