The Apple Pencil could be the 'missing link' to a touchscreen MacBook Pro — here's why

Opinion
By published

Could we be poking macOS with a stylus?

Apple Pencil USB-C
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

We’ve heard for a while that Apple could be looking to move its MacBook lineup to a touchscreen setup, and short of seemingly spelling the end of some high-powered tablet alternatives like the iPad Pro M5, you only have to watch a newer generation prod at your Mac screen to know that it’s only a matter of time.

Fresh from my son poking my MacBook Air M3 with his digits, though, I was thinking: “How could Apple make using touch on the Mac a more pleasant experience?”

After all, the idea of navigating the macOS menu bar with your fingertips sounds, frankly, rough — but is the solution the Apple Pencil, a device that’s been staring us in the face for years?

Minimal fresh UI needed

macOS Tahoe running on a MacBook Pro

Imagine navigating this with your finger. (Image credit: Future)

To start with, I think Apple’s touchscreen laptops are a near certainty in the future. Whether it’ll be limited to a certain product line, like the rumored MacBook Pro M6 with OLED, or a new one entirely, remains to be seen — but I just can’t see Apple wanting to roll out two versions of macOS with different touch targets.

It would require an awful lot of work to adjust just about every part of the OS for a touchscreen, with Mac mainstays like the menu bar, the settings app and Finder likely to need major surgery.

What if, then, Apple leaned into the precision already available in its stylus? The Apple Pencil has been around the block enough times to have multiple hardware revisions, constantly improving and adding new features, culminating in the impressive (but inessential for many) Apple Pencil Pro.

If these touchscreen Macs end up having fresh designs, then we’d get yet another way for Apple to cram magnetic charging à la MagSafe into a device for charging the stylus. Moreover, while it would be a good decade and change since the Microsoft Surface Pen rollout, and other Apple Pen alternatives, Apple silicon could make these styluses much more desirable and capable.

Mac for creatives (again)

Apple Creator Studio

Could a Mac 2-in-1 be on the cards? (Image credit: Apple)

A few years ago, the Mac was positioned as the machine for creators, particularly the MacBook. Access to the likes of Final Cut and Logic, as well as being a great place to use Adobe apps, meant Apple laptops were exciting — the kind of machines great ideas sprung from.

In recent years, the move to Apple silicon has undoubtedly made Mac a stronger platform, but it’s lost some of that upstart energy for creatives.

With the reveal and release of its Apple Creator Studio software and services bundle, however, Apple has a chance to show it still has that spark. If it can roll out a touchscreen MacBook that uses the Apple Pencil, it could position the platform as the go-to for artists, note-takers and more, in a way that the iPad (despite its many positives) hasn’t quite achieved for many.

If Apple can bring back some of the creator audience that shifted to alternative platforms in recent years, with Apple Pencil support in Pixelmator and even third-party options like Adobe, it could be onto a winner.

The iPad Pro M2 also introduced "Hover," a way to see what action you’ll take before the Pencil even touches the page. If the company gets that feature on board, it could be a huge boon and way to show how its offering can be just as precise (or even moreso) than its rivals.

Moot point?

Apple Pencil USB-C

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Of course, this could all be for nothing. Apple’s next big MacBook refresh could be a while off, and by the time it arrives, it may have put some version of macOS on iPad instead.

In any case, it feels like having an Apple Pencil-centric interface for macOS (while potentially more expensive) could be a great way to foster a second coming of a creator-based community for Apple.

And, judging by Apple's dev relations in recent years, it could probably do with getting more of them on board again.

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Lloyd Coombes
Lloyd Coombes
Contributing writer

Lloyd Coombes is a freelance tech and fitness writer. He's an expert in all things Apple as well as in computer and gaming tech, with previous works published on TechRadar, Tom's Guide, Live Science and more. You'll find him regularly testing the latest MacBook or iPhone, but he spends most of his time writing about video games as Gaming Editor for the Daily Star. He also covers board games and virtual reality, just to round out the nerdy pursuits.

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