Apple’s MacBook Pro is set to receive an overhaul, with a redesign, an an OLED touchscreen expected to be the key changes. Here’s what the rumor mill has to say about the device.

While AppleInsider readers have wanted a Mac with an OLED screen for years, actual claims of an OLED-equipped MacBook Pro date back to at least 2019. As for when such an upgrade might arrive, it depends on who you ask.

Leakers and analysts alike have had a lot to say about the future of the MacBook Pro, with claims of hardware changes, performance upgrades, and more. Some have even claimed Apple’s touchscreen laptop will be called the MacBook Ultra.

Here’s everything rumored for the next major MacBook Pro upgrade.

OLED MacBook Pro: Release date rumors

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had called touchscreen laptops “ergonomically terrible” in 2010, and software chief Craig Federighi echoed the sentiment in 2018, when he called touchscreen laptops “experiments.”

Apple is expected to introduce a redesigned MacBook Pro in either early 2027 or late 2026.

“We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do,” said Federighi in 2018. However, rumors of a touchscreen MacBook Pro surfaced the very next year.

Reports from May 2019 and August 2021 said Samsung was reportedly set to produce OLED MacBook Pro screens. In January 2020, an Apple patent revealed the company hadn’t ruled out the idea of a touchscreen MacBook Pro.

Since then, multiple sources have chimed in on the matter, all saying that an OLED MacBook Pro with a touchscreen was in development. Opinions on when it would be released, however, differed.

A November 2021 report from The Elec said the MacBook Pro would only gain an OLED panel in 2026. The same publication, however, said in July 2023 that the touchscreen MacBook Pro would actually be released in 2027 with an eighth-generation OLED panel.

Just days later, the same source went on to say that the MacBook Pro would actually be updated with a sixth-generation OLED panel in 2025. Then, in February 2024, they said the MacBook Pro with an OLED screen would actually arrive in 2027.

In January 2025 and February 2025, however, the same publication said the MacBook Pro would receive a hybrid OLED panel in 2026.

In February 2026, the same source claimed that mass production of MacBook Pro OLED panels would start in May 2026. In June 2026, however, The Elec then said that mass production would begin in July 2026, which contradicted a separate leaker, who said trial production had already started in January 2026.

The publication behind these claims has a mixed track record, and it has continued flip-flopping over the years, saying that the OLED MacBook would arrive in 2025, 2026, or 2027 at different points in time.

Apple is expected to replace the camera notch with a punch-hole design on the next-generation MacBook Pro.

In general, however, rumored release dates for the OLED MacBook have been all over the place. In January 2023, analyst Ming Chi Kuo said Apple would ship an “OLED MacBook by the end of 2024 at the earliest.”

2024 has obviously come and gone, but Kuo has continued to make claims about the OLED MacBook Pro. In September 2025, he said the device would arrive in late 2026.

Separately, in May 2024, Omdia analysts said the MacBook Pro with an OLED screen would actually arrive in 2026. This claim resurfaced in December 2024 and July 2025. In June 2026, the analyst firm said Apple’s touchscreen-equipped MacBook Pro could debut in July 2026, which seems unlikely.

Display analyst Ross Young said in April 2023 and October 2023 that the MacBook Pro would receive an OLED panel and touch screen in 2026.

Korean publication ET News claimed in January 2023 that Apple had ordered OLED panels for the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro, for devices expected to debut in 2026. This claim was reiterated a month later, and another Korean publication said the same thing in August 2025.

Meanwhile, in January 2023, a generally reliable leaker claimed the touchscreen-equipped MacBook Pro would arrive in 2025. However, by August 2025, their claim had changed to “late 2026 or early 2027.”

This alleged late 2026 through early 2027 release date was reiterated in November 2025 and January 2026 by the same source.

In February 2026, the leaker was more specific, saying that the OLED MacBook Pro would debut in late 2026. In April 2026, however, they claimed that the revamped MacBook Pro was more likely to arrive in 2027, due to an ongoing industry-wide memory shortage.

More recently, in June 2026, they suggested that Apple has abandoned its plans for M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, opting to focus on the AI-focused M7 line of Apple Silicon system-on-chips instead.

On June 26, 2026, they claimed Apple would use the current M5 Pro and M5 Max chips for its touchscreen MacBook Pro. The laptop is still expected to debut “between late 2026 and early 2027.”

Over the years, the same source listed 2025, 2026, and 2027 as release dates for the OLED-equipped MacBook Pro, so it’s still not entirely clear when the laptop will arrive.

As for verifiable information, AppleInsider learned in July 2025 that MacBook Pros bearing the device identifiers K114 and K116 were in development. The two laptops were tested with internal distributions of macOS Tahoe and were seemingly never intended to debut before macOS 26.5, as we learned in October 2025.

In short, the revamped OLED MacBook Pro will most likely debut in early 2027 or late 2026, depending on who you ask. In any case, though, there’s no doubt Apple has been researching the concept.

Apple’s touchscreen MacBook patents

Ideas for touchscreen Macs can be seen in Apple patents as far back as August 2010, and the company hasn’t abandoned associated research efforts.

A 2024 Apple patent with an illustration of a MacBook Pro equipped with a touchscreen. Image Credit: Apple.

An Apple patent, filed in 2023 and granted in September 2024, titled “Touch Sensing Utilizing Integrated Micro Circuitry,” featured an illustration of a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen.

The text, meanwhile, repeatedly refers to “an example personal computer that includes a trackpad and an integrated touch screen.” Another Apple patent from March 2024 detailed an all-glass MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, further suggesting the company has plans for a radical MacBook Pro redesign.

An Apple patent from August 2024 details a different approach, with multiple touchscreens across different areas of a MacBook Pro. An October 2020 patent, meanwhile, outlined how a traditional MacBook keyboard might be replaced with a deformable touchscreen.

Apple executives Greg Joswiak and Craig Federighi said, in April 2021 and June 2025, respectively, that the company has no plans to merge the iPad and Mac. However, Apple’s own research suggests the Mac will become more iPad-like, thanks to the addition of a touchscreen.

OLED MacBook Pro: Display & hardware rumors

The cornerstone of the K114 and K116 MacBook Pro models is expected to be the addition of an OLED panel and touchscreen.

Apple’s OLED-equipped MacBook Pro will likely be powered by the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.

Advertisement

With macOS Golden Gate offering support for touch-based input via Sidecar on iPad, a touchscreen Mac would make sense. In June 2026, a leaker with a mixed track record said that the touchscreen MacBook Pro is “100% confirmed,” which isn’t much of a surprise, given that all previous reporting mentioned a touchscreen.

According to an October 2025 rumor, Apple has developed a reinforced hinge meant to offset any display bounce when the MacBook Pro touchscreen is used. The same report also says that the updated MacBook Pro will feature a hole-punch design for the built-in camera, meaning it may not have a notch like the M5 models.

A hole-punch camera design would be a good hardware fit for the new-and-improved Siri AI. On iOS 27, Apple’s virtual assistant shows up as part of the Dynamic Island, so Apple might opt for a similar approach with the MacBook Pro.

While a touchscreen is sure to change the way users interact with their MacBook Pros, an OLED panel would significantly improve the visual experience. Relative to the LCD screen of the M5 MacBook Pro, an OLED panel offers an improved contrast ratio and better response time.

The difference between an OLED panel and an LCD screen is especially noticeable when viewing images and videos with the color black. Movie scenes with lots of darkness or shadows typically look better on an OLED screen, appearing black rather than the sort of blue-ish gray you’ll often find on LCD screens.

To be more specific, though, according to a July 2023 rumor, Apple will use an eighth-generation OLED panel with LTPO TFT technology.

LTPO TFT is short for Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Transistor. This display technology combines the benefits of both LTPS (Low-Temperature Polysilicon) TFT and IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) TFT technologies.

LTPO TFT would allow for improved power consumption and longer battery life on the MacBook Pro, compared to traditional TFT technologies. Samsung Display is expected to be the supplier for MacBook Pro OLED panels, per multiple sources.

The touchscreen MacBook Pro is expected to feature a reinforced hinge design.

As for what will power the OLED MacBook Pro, the device is expected to feature the current M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, per a rumor published on June 26, 2026. This means performance will be comparable to the existing M5 Pro and M5 Max variants of the MacBook Pro, which debuted in March 2026.

According to an earler to a June 2026 rumor from the same source, Apple has abandoned the development of M6 Pro and M6 Max chips. The second-generation touchscreen MacBook is, instead, expected to use Apple’s M7 Pro and M7 Max chips.

Apple still has plans for a base M6 chip, which is expected to feature a memory bandwidth of 200GB/s, up from 153GB/s on the base M5 chip. However, according to a November 2025 rumor, it will only be used in the base-model 14-inch MacBook Pro, which will use the existing M5 design without a touchscreen or OLED screen.

Our own findings suggest this will be the case as well. As AppleInsider pointed out in October 2025, the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro bears the identifier J806, while the OLED MacBook Pros are broadly known as K114 and K116.

While chip and performance upgrades are to be expected, Apple is also said to have been exploring another upgrade for the MacBook Pro. According to a February 2024 rumor, Apple at one point considered adding a proprietary cellular modem to the MacBook Pro.

Devices like the iPhone Air, iPhone 16e, iPhone 17e, and M5 iPad Pro already feature Apple-designed modems. A December 2024 report claimed Apple was exploring adding a second-generation cellular modem to the MacBook Pro, and that the upgrade would not occur before 2026.

As for what the OLED-equipped MacBook Pro might be called, an April 2025 rumor says Apple will choose “MacBook Ultra” as the marketing name. This would expand the “Ultra” branding used for the Apple Watch and top-tier Apple Silicon chips.

However, this might not happen anytime soon. Apple was similarly expected to unveil an iPhone Ultra back in 2023, though that never amounted to anything.

As of late June 2026, there are no significant rumors about the battery capacity, speaker count, ports, or color options of the touchscreen MacBook Pro.

Hardware elements aside, the revamped MacBook Pro will likely be quite expensive. In June 2026, Apple increased the starting price of the M5 Pro MacBook Pro to $2,499, and that of the M5 Max MacBook Pro to $4,099.

The touchscreen-equipped models will likely hit an even higher price. The current memory chip shortage isn’t expected to end in 2027, and at this point it’s not reasonable to expect it to end in 2028 either.

What to expect with the 2027 MacBook Pro

Overall, it looks as though the next-generation MacBook Pro will deliver the following improvements over the current M5 lineup:

• OLED screen with better contrast, faster response times
• Touchscreen and touch-compatible apps, features
• Dynamic Island
• Redesigned thinner chassis with a reinforced hinge

The touchscreen-enhanced MacBook Pro is expected to debut either in early 2027 or late 2026.

New Zealand and Belgium go head-to-head for the first time ever, in a crucial World Cup 2026 Group G fixture that’s a virtual knockout. The Red Devils guarantee progress with a win, while the All Whites will need other results to go their way.

Belgium may be overwhelming favorites against the 84th-ranked Kiwis, but they have blown tepid and cold so far, the goalless draw with Iran particularly dispiriting. Even their 1-1 draw against Egypt came courtesy of an own goal, sparked by Romelu Lukaku’s introduction. Yet the Napoli forward and Kevin De Bruyne looked off the pace against Iran and coach Rudi Garcia will need Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard on form to extend Belgium’s 15-match unbeaten streak with a necessary victory.

Ford has admitted that it had to rehire experienced engineers after its AI systems failed to deliver the quality the company expected. Charles Poon, Ford’s VP of vehicle hardware engineering, told reporters that the automaker mistakenly believed it could swap in AI and still produce a high-quality product. The admission, first reported by The Verge, comes as Ford earned the top spot among mainstream brands in JD Power’s initial quality ranking for the first time in 16 years.

The problem was not that the AI was fundamentally broken, Poon explained, but that experienced workers left before they could transfer their institutional knowledge into the systems meant to replace them. Without decades of engineering judgment encoded in the training data, Ford’s automated tools amplified weak inputs rather than catching design flaws. The company rehired, newly hired, or promoted 350 experienced engineers to fill the gap.

Poon was vague about why those workers left, but the broader picture is not. Ford has shed roughly 5,300 salaried positions since its 2020 employment peak, part of a wider contraction across Detroit’s automakers that has eliminated more than 20,000 white-collar jobs. CEO Jim Farley has said publicly that AI “is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the US,” a prediction his own company’s quality crisis now complicates.

The 350 returning engineers were tasked with mentoring junior staff, rebuilding the data pipelines that feed Ford’s AI training, and refining the automated systems they were originally supposed to be replaced by. Ford also created a dedicated 40-person software quality assurance team and added more than 100,000 AI-powered automated tests to catch edge cases and revalidate software changes late in development.

The turnaround was enough to push Ford to the top of JD Power’s 2026 initial quality study, which measures problems reported by owners in the first 90 days of ownership. Ford scored 152 problems per 100 vehicles, ahead of Nissan and Buick. The F-150, Mustang, and Super Duty each won best in segment for the second consecutive year.

The quality win does not erase a rougher track record. Ford has led US automakers in recalls this year, issuing 51 so far in 2026 covering more than 11 million vehicles, more than double the next-closest manufacturer. It also joins a growing list of companies discovering that removing human judgment from AI-driven workflows creates problems the technology cannot fix on its own.

The episode lands at a moment when AI companies and policymakers are scrambling to figure out what the transition means for workers. OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon, and Microsoft this week backed RAISE US, a $500 million nonprofit led by former commerce secretary Gina Raimondo to retrain American workers for the AI economy. Ford’s experience suggests the harder problem is not retraining but knowing which workers you cannot afford to lose in the first place.

If you are looking for a new opportunity in an Industry 4.0 career check out these 13 organisations.

Careers in Industry 4.0 are wonderfully broad, in that there are a range of opportunities open to professionals with the necessary qualifications. 

Connected factory floors, industrial IoT, smart manufacturing and sustainability are among the fields redefining working life for STEM professionals. With that in mind, SiliconRepublic.com has compiled a list of some of the organisations creating opportunities for innovative and future-focused early-career starters and experts. 

Accenture

Irish technology consulting platform Accenture is looking for a consultant or team lead for infrastructure and capital projects in advisory and whole life cycle management. The role is available in Dublin and Cork, with some travel expected, and combines “deep industry expertise with leading-edge digital technologies to help clients transform how capital projects are executed and how assets are managed”, from early strategy and design through to operations, optimisation and decommissioning.

On the advisory side, the right candidate will work at the intersection of business consulting, programme delivery and digital asset transformation, across sectors such as utilities, transport, energy, healthcare and public infrastructure.

Also based out of Dublin and requiring some travel, is a role for an AI and machine learning (ML) solutions lead. Among other responsibilities, the job will involve leading AI solution delivery across the full life cycle, from architecture and build through to production deployment, across financial services, public sector and industry clients. Professionals will also design and build multi-agent AI systems and manage and develop a team of AI/ML engineers. 

Amgen

Pharmaceutical company Amgen is looking to recruit a senior automation engineer at is Dún Laoghaire facility. The professional who gets the role will be a member of the ADL plant automation team which is responsible for supporting drug product manufacturing, maintaining automation systems in a GMP environment and implementing optimisation projects.

Among the expectations for whomever fills this role will be system ownership and reliability, support and troubleshooting, continuous improvement and championing Industry 4.0 initiatives. 

Deloitte

Global professional services company Deloitte is looking to recruit an SAP extended warehouse management specialist, in a hybrid capacity for both the Cork and Dublin facilities. Experience in the manufacturing, retail, FMCG and pharmaceutical sectors is highly valued, as is expertise in warehouse management processes including inbound/outbound logistics, inventory management, slotting, labour management and automation technologies.

There is also a Dublin and Cork AI and data delivery lead role that would be suited to professionals with skills in Industry 4.0 type roles. Responsibilities will include leading the end-to-end delivery of AI and data programmes across discovery, development, and deployment phases, managing and mentoring delivery teams specialising in AI, machine learning and data analytics solutions, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and data governance frameworks throughout project life cycles, driving innovation by integrating emerging AI technologies into complex enterprise environments and overseeing project risks, timelines and budgets to ensure successful delivery.

Henkel

German multinational chemical and consumer goods company Henkel currently has an opening for a process safety engineer. The role is Dublin-based and the process safety engineer will be expected to develop and maintain a detailed understanding of the manufacturing processes under their responsibility through direct engagement with plant operations, review of process documentation, participation in production activities and independent use of plant information systems.

Though not necessarily a requirement, the right candidate could benefit from having qualifications or certification in areas such as science, engineering, chemicals, mechanics, process safety, industrial engineering or a related discipline.

Someone with Industry 4.0 skills may also be interested in applying for the currently vacant project engineering and shift process supervisor roles, which demand many of the skills and qualities suited to other jobs in the sector.   

Liberty IT

For professionals with the necessary skills, there is a software engineer MLOps position available to jobseekers based in Galway and Belfast, at Liberty IT, the technology arm of the insurance company Liberty Mutual Insurance.

The successful candidate will join the analytics tech engineering group and will focus on building experimental computer vision pipelines to improve underwriting analysis, help to train model pipelines and work collaboratively in a data science and engineering team. There is also a similar principal software engineer MLOps position available, also out of the Belfast and Galway offices. 

MSD

At MSD, there is a senior manufacturing biotech associate role open to a qualified expert looking to work out of the Dunboyne, Meath facility. Critical skills for the role include biopharmaceutical manufacturing, good manufacturing practices (GMP), production operations, regulatory compliance, teamwork and the ability to work independently. 

Optum

At Optum, there is a principal data scientist, network analytics and AI enablement job on offer in both Dublin and Donegal. The primary responsibilities of the job include coding, contributing to the development of big data systems, pipelines, tools and models, building LLM-assisted workflows using prompt engineering, retrieval and human-in-the-loop reviews, triaging AI and ML opportunities, defining business requirements and contributing to the evolution of data science infrastructure, among others expectations. 

Also in Dublin, there is a relevant product manager for AI and ML solutions role. The professional who gets this job will be part of the AI/ ML solutions team for underwriting at Optum Rx and will be responsible for re-imagining key business processes leveraging AI and will work with business and technical stakeholders across multiple teams. 

PwC

Global professional services company PwC has plenty of roles focused on AI and automation, for professionals looking to work in Industry 4.0. Job vacancies include a Dublin-based AI Azure architect manager position in data and AI, a role for an Azure cloud engineer and a data and AI transformation senior manager or director. 

Rent the Runway

Galway’s Rent the Runway has multiple opportunities for a professional to excel in a role aligned with Industry 4.0 goals and expectations, such as a manager for data engineering position.

The person who earns the job will lead the team responsible for building, operating and evolving the company’s core data platform, combining strong engineering leadership with a deep understanding of data systems, data quality, platform reliability and stakeholder needs.

They will be responsible for leading a team of data engineers, setting technical direction, driving delivery of strategic data initiatives and ensuring that the data warehouse, pipelines, models and data platform infrastructure are reliable, scalable, secure and well-governed.

There are also opportunities for professionals qualified to work as a software engineer. 

TCS

IT services, consulting and business solutions platform TCS has opportunities open to professionals based around a number of Irish locations. Currently advertised jobs include Azure data engineering, senior software engineer for SCALA and staff software engineer. 

Viatris

Healthcare company Viatris has room in its Dublin-based operations for a supply chain network manager whose role will involve governing supply chain flows at a global level. The right candidate will coordinate activities for documentation, evaluation and approval of new supply chain flows and connect with business stakeholders, subject matter experts and approvers. They will be actively involved in the business integration projects of markets, supply chain hubs and internal manufacturing sites. 

There is also a planning master data analyst position, as part of a 12-month contract. The role involves defining, governing and maintaining high-quality planning master data across SAP and advanced planning systems in support of global supply chain operations. 

Workhuman

Irish human capital management firm Workhuman has two positions well suited to a professional eager to work in an Industry 4.0 capacity. The first is an open role as an AI architect, where the right person for the job will work across product, data and enterprise to architect and ensure the viability of the AI strategy.

The second job vacancy is for a software engineer III. 

Yahoo

If you are thinking of embarking upon a career at tech giant Yahoo and have skills aligned with jobs in the Industry 4.0 space, then there are two opportunities that you might be interested in. The first position is as a senior data engineer and the second is as a senior software apps engineer. 

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Microsoft did not provide consumers with sufficient information to assess the changes, the watchdog said.

Italy’s competition watchdog launched an investigation into Microsoft to probe how it informed customers about a price hike for its Microsoft 365 services.

According to the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), Microsoft may have provided consumers information on price hikes in a “fragmented manner”, without making it “sufficiently clear” that the Microsoft 365 subscription service had been integrated with its Copilot and Designer AI services.

Consumers were also placed on a new, costlier plan by default, unless they explicitly withdrew, the watchdog said in a statement today (26 June).

In the AGCM’s view, Microsoft failed to provide consumers with sufficient information to assess the changes and, as a result, make informed decisions on if they wanted to renew their Microsoft 365 subscriptions or not.

This may be contrary to consumer rules, the AGCM said, and added that the manner of Microsoft’s communication “may also constitute an aggressive practice, as it appears to have unduly restricted consumers’ freedom of choice”.

Last September, Microsoft resolved a years-long EU investigation into 365 by tweaking how it provided the services in the region. The bloc probed whether the tech giant abused its dominant market power with its product-bundling.

The Commission preliminarily found that Microsoft restricted competition on the market for cloud-based communication and collaboration products. The company agreed to remedy the issue by unbundling services.

The EU, in a separate preliminary report yesterday (25 June), said that it was in favour of designating Microsoft’s cloud service Azure as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The law aims to regulate players in various digital markets by setting responsibilities and banning unfair practices.

Meanwhile, last week the Italian watchdog launched its second investigation into Apple in months, probing whether the tech giant met DMA obligations around service interoperability. It previously fined Apple nearly €100m over abusing its market dominance in the app distribution market.

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.