Mac fans who’ve been desperate for the rumoured touchscreen MacBook Ultra laptop to arrive on the scene – perhaps as soon as this year – will take heart from Apple’s announcement of macOS 27 Golden Gate this week.
As MacRumors points out, macOS 27 carries some pretty promising hints that touch capacity is finally being integrated into the desktop operating system following a decade of Apple fiercely resisting the idea of a touchscreen Mac.
The first of those hints has seen Apple add touch input to Sidecar directly. If you’re unfamiliar, Sidecar is a handy display extending feature that enables users to transfer a window to a companion iPad in instances where touch input is preferable. Considering the feature only exists for times when touch on an iPad is a better way of working, there’s been no need to give the Mac app direct touch input.
Another considerably strong hint is the addition of a pull-to-refresh gesture for Mac. The popular iPhone and iPad UI tool, which enables users to simply pull down from the top of the display and pause, is an easy substitute for the refresh button or keyboard shortcut.
Now it’s coming to Mac. It might simply be because Apple is planning on integrating pull to refresh into the trackpad. However, this would work just as well for touch in staple apps like Mail, Safari and News.
And finally, Apple is bringing the new Siri ‘Search or Ask’ feature to macOS Spotlight search, giving credence to the idea Apple may use a Dynamic Island for its MacBook Ultra. Interesting, right?
This isn’t the first hint we’ve got about a new Apple form factor, during WWDC week. iOS 27 has a new aspect ratio formatting options for apps developers, which appears to be a clear indication that the folding iPhone Ultra is nigh.
The MacBook Ultra promises to be an equally seismic change for Apple. According to recent reporting it’ll have an OLED touch-capable display that doesn’t quite offer the fine level of control of an iPad Pro, for instance, but will make pawing at a MacBook screen a reality for the first time.
Speculation suggests it could arrive before the year is out, loaded with a new generation M6 series processor.
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