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iPhone Duo helps me understand the touchscreen MacBook

Macworld If youre wondering where the touchscreen MacBook is after Apples Surprise and Shine event on Wednesday, dont worry. It was never in the plans for this event, and all signs indicate that its still going to ship this year . Even though Wednesdays event made no mention of a touchscreen MacBook or even macOS, the introduction of Apples new folding phone, the iPhone Duo , said a lot about Apples upcoming laptop. Apple understood what it had to do with the Duo: It couldnt just make a big phone that folds in half (an approach many early Android folding phones took). Instead, Apple completely rethought and re-engineered iOS to accommodate the folding form factor, making it natural, smooth, and, most of all, productive. My biggest concern with the touchscreen MacBook is whether Apple fully understands the task at hand with such a laptop. Like a folding iPhone, Apple cant just take a MacBook, slap a touchscreen display on it, pack it up, and sell it. Mac software and macOS are specifically made with mouse and trackpad input in mind, not touch. Menus, icons, text, and everything else you see on-screen are made for pointing and clicking with an input device, not a finger. But Apple understood the UI challenges with a folding iPhone. It didnt just address the potential interface issues; it dramatically rethought the way we interact with our phones. From the opening transition to the way apps interact with each other and the various poses and orientations, Apple designed the iPhone Duo from the outside in, looking at the form factor and crafting iOS to match the uniqueness of the device rather than forcing existing elements and navigation into an unnatural fit. And I expect Apple will do the same with the touchscreen MacBook. Just like Apple moved the Dock to the side and compressed the status buttons into an elegant glyph on the side of the iPhone Duo display for easier reachability, Apple needs to consider how macOS will work with a touchscreen. Apple didnt just make a folding phone to make a folding phone; it made a folding phone to make a better folding phone. And I can start to understand the vision for the touchscreen MacBook. Now, users arent going to be holding a touchscreen MacBook like an iPhone Duo, so I dont expect Apple to make any of the same UI changes it did with the Duo. But my point is that Apple needs to take the Mac user experience to heart, and refine macOS to include elements that optimize touchscreen input. Weve heard rumors that parts of macOS will enlarge to make touch points easy to access, but we havent heard much elsemore could be in store, if the iPhone Duo is any indication. We wont have to wait much longer to hear about the touchscreen MacBook. It will be revealed in early 2027 at the latest, but more likely, within the next couple of months. But after seeing the iPhone Duo, Im much more hopeful Apple will get it right.

10 Sep 2026 4:43 pm