Next month, Apple will unveil its new designs for iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16.One reported goal of the redesigns is building more consistency between the various platforms.For the Mac, that means we could have another Big Sur situation on our hands.
Big Sur’s new design prompted touchscreen Mac speculation macOS Big Sur was the last time Apple introduced notable design changes for the Mac’s software.The update arrived in 2020, almost immediately sparking speculation on an age-old topic: touchscreen Macs.Keen eyes observed that Big Sur seemed to space out certain UI elements more.
For a platform afforded the precision of a pointer, the extra spacing seemed gratuitous.It was almost as if Apple was preparing macOS to support touch input.Five years later, that clearly wasn’t the case.
But by revisiting Apple’s explanation at the time, it seems inevitable that we’re in for another Big Sur-style moment when macOS 16 debuts.macOS 16’s design looks set to repeat the Big Sur pattern Shortly after macOS Big Sur launched to all users, interviewed Apple executives about the update and the just-released M1 Macs.In that interview, software chief Craig Federighi explained Apple’s Big Sur design philosophy.
He also shot down speculation that it was a precursor to touchscreen Macs.This trend of making Mac software design more reminiscent of iOS and iPadOS is expected to be even more true this year.macOS 16 will join iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 in showing off Apple’s new, more cohesive design vision.
And when it does? Touch speculation will likely arrive in full force.On the hardware side, there are already signs that next year’s MacBook Pro might be the first touchscreen Mac.With some software evidence showing up in macOS 16, the case for touch Macs actually happening grows stronger.
Of course, it’s always possible we’ll get the same outcome as last time.macOS 16 could, like Big Sur, take inspiration from iOS without intentionally preparing for touch at all.But either way, get ready for that speculation from five years ago to spin up again.
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