If a touchscreen MacBook Pro is coming, what does that mean for the iPad?

Apple has long said it had no plans for a touchscreen Mac. However, a Bloomberg report says the tech giant has apparently changed its mind.

The article by Mark Gurman says the first touchscreen Mac will arrive in 2025 and will most likely be a MacBook Pro. And, in fact, it will likely appear on the first OLED Mac laptop.

The MacBook Pro revamp being tested inside Apple purportedly keeps a “traditional laptop design” that also includes a standard trackpad and keyboard. However, the display would “support touch input and gestures – just like an iPhone and iPad.”

If the company decides to move forward with launching touchscreen Macs, Gurman says that the tech could eventually expand to other Mac models. However, he adds that Apple “isn’t actively working to combine the iPad and Mac operating systems.” 

If we do see touchscreen Macs, it will be interesting to see what happen with the iPad, which Apple often touts as a personal computer alternative/replacement.

Even though the company has long pooh-poohed the idea of a touchscreen Mac, Apple has filed for and/or been granted many patents for such a device. 

For example, in 2020 Apple was granted a patent (number 10,613,678) for an “input device with haptic feedback” that hints at touchscreen Macs. In the same year, the tech giant filed for a patent (number 20200110505) for “multiple controllers for a capacitive sensing device” that showed the company was at least investigating touchscreens for Macs.

And in 2019 Apple was been granted a patent (number 10,296,126) for a “shape detecting input” device that hinted at — you guessed it! — a touchscreen Mac. And it would “recognize” not only your fingers and a stylus, but other objects as well.