Could the touchscreen MacBook Pro OLED really be as light as Air?

Apple is reportedly building a MacBook Pro laptop with an OLED panel with a touchscreen. However, for some users, the greatest boon might be a lighter design that makes lugging it around a little easier.

According to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the first-ever touchscreen Mac will be “significantly” lighter than the current MacBook Pro models. In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman reveals the next-gen MacBook Pro could be closer in weight to the current MacBook Air models than the incumbent Pro laptop.

Gurman writes: “The new MacBook Pros are lighter — significantly lighter. Apple has reengineered the machine’s interior miniaturising parts and rearranging components to make the computer much easier to carry. The current 16-inch MacBook Pro weighs as much as 4.8 pounds, compared with 3.3 pounds for the 15-inch MacBook Air, so any meaningful reduction would be immediately noticeable.”

The erstwhile Apple watcher doesn’t express the weight reduction as a metric. Gurman also seems to think the M5 chip will continue its run, rather than a yet-to-be-announced version of the M-Series chips. He also says macOS Golden Gate will get an update to support touch and the expected Dynamic Island within that tandem OLED display.

The Bloomberg man’s report reiterates his previous stance that the device will be around by the end of next month. I can’t imagine that’ll be at the expected October 13 event, but then again I can’t see Apple revealing this massive change to the Mac ecosystem without a special event.

It has been a decade-or-more long journey to the touchscreen MacBook. Apple has traditionally moved the iPad towards the Mac rather than the other way around. iPadOS has become more desktop-like, while helpful accessories like the Magic Keyboard stand have helped out those who want to pull double duty on the same device.

I can’t wait to see what Apple has in store. I’m less enthused about the potential for paw prints all over a lovely OLED display I use to write to you every day.