Apple’s Next MacBook Pro to Feature Touchscreen, Face ID in Major Redesign
Apple is planning a significant overhaul of its MacBook Pro line, adding touchscreen capabilities, OLED displays, and a lighter design, though the rollout has been delayed due to supply chain challenges.
The redesigned MacBook Pros, currently codenamed K114 and K116, are now expected to launch beyond the initially targeted late 2025 timeframe due to difficulties securing OLED display panels. This marks a departure for Apple, which has historically avoided touchscreens on its laptops, previously experimenting with the Touch Bar before discontinuing it in 2021. The move to touchscreen functionality could significantly alter how users interact with professional creative software.
Beyond the touchscreen, the new models will incorporate a hole-punch style front-facing camera similar to those found on iPhones, complete with the Dynamic Island feature, and reinforced hinges to support touchscreen use. Apple is also exploring a shift from Touch ID fingerprint scanning to Face ID authentication, though that technology is still several years away from implementation. The new devices will be powered by M6 series Apple processors. For users considering a purchase, understanding the Apple silicon roadmap is crucial.
While the upgrades promise a substantial leap forward, they are expected to come at a cost, with prices potentially increasing by several hundred dollars. Updates to the MacBook Air, Mac Studio, Mac Mini, and Apple’s monitor lineup are also in development, but the advanced features will likely debut on the higher-end MacBook Pro models first. Further information on Apple’s product development can be found at Apple’s official website.
Apple officials have indicated that M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro updates with the current design are still slated for release early next year.
For several years, Gurman has said that, according to his sources, the next major MacBook Pro revamp would add touchscreens, OLED displays, and a lighter, thinner frame. He reported last month that nothing has changed about that plan other than pushing it back from a late 2025 launch due to OLED supply issues, and today, he expanded on those rumors with details of codenames (K114 and K116) and other specs.
While Windows laptops have had touchscreens for years, Apple has avoided them, instead adding the Touch Bar to its machines for a few years before changing course in 2021. The report also teases another change that’s already a Windows feature but absent on Macs — a shift from Touch ID fingerprint scanning to Face ID authentication, which he says is still years away.
Before that, he says we should still expect to see M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro updates with the current design released early next year. Similarly, updated versions of the MacBook Air, Mac Studio, Mac Mini, and two monitors are in the works.
According to Gurman, the new MacBook Pros will contain M6 series Apple processors, a hole-punch style integrated webcam that’s more like the iPhone’s front-facing camera with its Dynamic Island, and reinforced hinges that don’t bounce around or shift while using the touchscreen.
The bad news? Those changes are expected to increase the prices by “a few hundred dollars,” and they’re unlikely to reach Apple’s cheaper laptops the first time around.
