Steve Jobs Said a Touchscreen MacBook Wouldn’t Work. But Times Have Changed

The line between iPad and MacBook may get a little more blurred this year. Bloomberg reports that Apple is working on a touchscreen MacBook Pro with OLED screen to be released by the end of 2026. 

It’s a product I never expected to see anytime soon. For the past 15 years, Apple executives have publicly dismissed the idea of putting touchscreens on a MacBook, saying it would be uncomfortable to operate. Steve Jobs told a crowd at an Apple event that the company did “tons of user testing” on putting touchscreens on MacBooks and decided against it because, he said, “It doesn’t work. It’s ergonomically terrible.” 

Watch this: New Touchscreen MacBook Details Emerge, Plus What to Expect at Apple’s Big Event

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While previewing Mac OS X Lion in 2010, Jobs explained the main issue was comfort, saying, “After a short period of time you start to fatigue, and after an extended period of time your arm wants to fall off.” 

So if Bloomberg’s reporting is correct, certainly someone at Apple believes differently now. But before we cry out how this isn’t what Steve Jobs wanted, let’s not forget that Jobs did say Apple did “tons” of user testing. It was something the company has been curious about. Maybe in the past 15 years, something changed. 

In this week’s episode of One More Thing, embedded above, I go over the details from the Bloomberg report on how it might function. MacOS reportedly would only reveal touch menus when a finger hits the screen, helping it just complement the typical point-and-click interface. Certainly this could avoid criticism Microsoft faced by overhauling its OS in the Windows 8 launch when it moved to a hybrid interface, alienating longtime users.

This rumored device is for the end of the year, but Apple may have plenty of other gadgets to play with in the next week. Tim Cook teased that the company will be announcing new products starting on Monday. The company is expected to release a new iPhone 17e, along with updated models of the iPad and Mac lineup — maybe as many as five different products. 

Apple is holding an invitation-only experience on Wednesday March 4 in New York City, and I’ll be there to cover whatever happens and will give my first impressions and full report for what one more thing (or many things) will have folks buzzing.

For more One More Thing, subscribe to our YouTube page to catch Bridget Carey breaking down the latest Apple news and issues every Friday.