ZDNET’s Kyle Kucharski frames the opportunity around three ambitions: a convertible design, touch controls that genuinely improve desktop work, and useful AI. His unanswered question is the obvious one: what will it cost?
For Windows users, those are worthwhile questions—not because a rumored Mac suddenly invalidates an existing PC, but because they offer a useful framework for judging premium laptops on either platform.
1. A touchscreen should not be mistaken for a convertible
Kucharski wants Apple to go beyond adding finger input and build a MacBook that folds into a tablet. That is a wish, not an announced feature. His proposed photo-editing and stylus workflows are possibilities to evaluate if Apple introduces the necessary hardware and software.
The important distinction is between touch input, pen support and tablet-friendly construction. Buyers should ask about each separately.
Microsoft provides a particularly revealing example. Its official Surface Laptop Ultra announcement specifies a 15-inch touchscreen, but the display footnote explicitly excludes pen input, including Surface Pen and Surface Slim Pen compatibility. A touchscreen label alone therefore does not establish suitability for digital illustration.
That is a practical lesson to carry into Apple’s event. If a touchscreen Mac appears, the questions should be specific:
- Does it support an active stylus, and which one?
- Can the display move into a comfortable drawing position?
- How does the interface behave when the keyboard is inaccessible?
- Which creative applications demonstrate the new input method?
These are evaluation criteria, not predictions. A spectacular OLED panel would not answer them by itself.
2. Software matters more than the novelty of touching macOS
ZDNET contrasts the proposed touchscreen with the Touch Bar, arguing that Apple needs meaningful software integration rather than another input experiment.
The more useful test is not whether touch looks impressive during a demonstration. It is whether it makes a repetitive task easier without making keyboard-and-trackpad work worse.
For any desktop operating system, an assessment should include selecting small controls, manipulating a timeline, opening contextual commands and switching between input methods. A polished demonstration should show the awkward moments as well as the photogenic ones.
A conventional laptop could still offer useful touch interaction without becoming a convertible. Conversely, a folding hinge would not automatically make desktop applications pleasant to operate with fingers. The sensible standard is demonstrated usefulness—not a requirement that every premium laptop become a tablet.
The takeaway: judge the workflow, not just the hinge.
3. The AI comparison needs evidence, not a winner’s podium
Kucharski also positions the potential MacBook against Microsoft’s push into high-end local AI. There is a concrete Windows reference point: Microsoft says Surface Laptop Ultra uses NVIDIA RTX Spark and offers up to 128GB of unified memory. Its advertised one-petaflop AI figure is theoretical FP4 performance using sparsity, not an independently measured application result.
Apple is not starting from zero. Its March 3, 2026 announcement established M5 Pro and M5 Max, with M5 Max supporting up to 128GB of unified memory. Apple also describes on-device agentic coding in Xcode. Those existing capabilities do not confirm which chips—or additional AI features—might appear on October 28.
This makes sweeping claims of a platform victory premature. Even matching memory capacities would not establish equivalent performance.
A useful comparison would measure the same supported workload, explain the model and software configuration, and disclose whether processing stays local. For agentic features, the assessment should also ask what actions require approval and how users can inspect the results.
The editorial standard should be simple: show completed work, not merely larger numbers.
The price question needs a careful Windows comparison
ZDNET’s concern about affordability is reasonable, but its suggestion of Surface laptop configurations above $6,000 is not established by Microsoft’s announcement. Microsoft lists Surface Laptop Ultra from $2,599 MSRP and separately prices the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box at $5,999 MSRP. The desktop’s price should not be treated as a laptop configuration.
Apple’s prospective touchscreen pricing remains unknown; Macworld describes a possible premium over existing models, not an announced price.
The right question is therefore not simply whether the rumored MacBook will be expensive. It is what additional work its premium would enable.
A compelling October 28 reveal would connect touch, application support and computing performance to a clear purpose. Until then, “touchscreen MacBook” is an intriguing expectation—not yet a reason to declare either platform the winner.
Update: Report outlines possible three-tier MacBook Pro lineup (October 25, 2026)
According to news.lavx.hu, Apple could pair the rumored touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro redesign with a broader three-tier lineup rather than replacing the current machines outright. The report claims existing M5 Pro and M5 Max models would remain as a middle tier, while redesigned OLED touch models would sit above them at a higher price.
It also reports potential starting prices of roughly $2,999 for a 14-inch redesigned model and $3,499 for a 16-inch version. Those figures, along with claims of an M6-based entry model, Dynamic Island, cellular support and specific configuration changes, remain unconfirmed by Apple.
For Windows buyers and IT decision-makers, the potential implication is clearer segmentation: a touch-enabled MacBook Pro may be positioned as a costly premium option rather than a standard feature across Apple’s professional laptop range. Until Apple’s announcement, however, these details should be treated as reporting rather than confirmed specifications.
Update: Report casts doubt on October 28 Mac event format (October 26, 2026)
Contrary to the earlier report of a Los Angeles event, Notebookcheck reports that Apple may announce its late-October products through press releases rather than a livestream or in-person presentation. The outlet, citing Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, says Apple could spread announcements across Monday through Wednesday, with the redesigned touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro reportedly reserved for October 28.
According to Notebookcheck, the proposed sequence begins with a refreshed iPad mini, followed by an M6-based iMac and entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, before Apple unveils redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. The report still describes the larger redesigns as using M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, alongside an OLED touchscreen, a lighter chassis and a Dynamic Island-style display cutout.
For Windows users and IT buyers, the practical change is timing and certainty: Apple may provide specifications through product pages and press materials instead of a controlled keynote demonstration. That would make hands-on validation of touch workflows, application behavior and any claimed AI gains especially important before treating the rumored MacBook Pro as a meaningful new competitor to established Windows touch and convertible laptops.