Apple might finally be ready to blur the lines between its laptops and tablets. According to a new Bloomberg leak, the company is preparing to launch its first “toaster-refrigerator” device—an internal nickname referencing CEO Tim Cook’s long-standing reluctance to merge the Mac and iPad. The redesigned MacBook Pro with a touchscreen display is reportedly set to debut in late 2026 or early 2027, marking a major shift in Apple’s design philosophy.
Back in 2012, Cook dismissed the idea of combining a touchscreen with a traditional laptop, famously saying, “You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those aren’t going to be pleasing to the user.” The late Steve Jobs had echoed a similar sentiment years earlier, arguing that “touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical.”
Despite those early reservations, Apple now seems ready to embrace what most of its competitors already offer: high-end notebooks with touch-enabled screens. However, the company still isn’t merging the MacBook and iPad into a single product line. Instead, the touchscreen MacBook Pro will serve as an evolution of the Mac’s usability, not a convergence of its platforms.
Hardware and Software Are Already Converging
Apple’s move isn’t as surprising when you look at the long-term strategy behind its ecosystem. The company has been building “toaster-refrigerators” in stages—both in hardware and software.
On the hardware front, Apple now runs the same M-series chips across its iPads, MacBooks, and even the Vision Pro headset. Software-wise, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 are visually and functionally closer than ever. The interfaces share nearly identical layouts, multitasking behaviors, and design language. The biggest missing piece on the Mac has been touch input—something the upcoming touchscreen MacBook Pro appears ready to solve. Meanwhile, attaching a keyboard dock to the iPad already makes it feel remarkably close to using a MacBook with a touchscreen.
OLED Displays and New Design Details
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the coming M6 MacBook Pro models—codenamed K114 (14-inch) and K116 (16-inch)—will feature thinner, lighter frames and a reinforced hinge designed to minimize screen wobble when users interact with the touch display. The laptops will also adopt OLED panels for the first time on a Mac, offering deeper contrast and more vibrant colors. These panels are already used in the iPhone and iPad Pro lineups and are expected to significantly improve display quality on Apple’s laptops.
Apple will reportedly eliminate the camera notch introduced in earlier MacBook Pros, opting instead for a hole-punch camera design similar to the iPhone’s Dynamic Island. Despite the design refresh, Face ID still won’t make its debut—Apple will continue relying on Touch ID for authentication, with facial recognition on Macs expected to come later in the decade.
Higher Prices Expected
The M6 redesign will likely come with a premium price tag. Gurman reports that Apple plans to raise prices by a few hundred dollars compared to current models, citing the cost of new components and display technology.
Apple recently refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 chip, while M5 Pro and M5 Max versions of the 14-inch and 16-inch models are expected in early 2026. Those iterations will maintain the current M4-era design before the larger redesign hits with the M6 generation.
If these leaks hold true, Apple’s 2026 MacBook Pro lineup could deliver one of the biggest leaps for the Mac in over a decade—not just in performance, but in how users physically interact with it.
