Apple's patent proposing touchscreen MacBook Pro model has been granted

Apple has a longstanding stance against touchscreen MacBooks. Despite that, the Cupertino-based tech giant has secured a patent (first seen by AppleInsider) for a MacBook Pro model that incorporates touchscreen technology. The patent, titled "Touch Sensing Utilizing Integrated Micro Circuitry," filed in 2023 has now been granted.
Apart from this, the company had previously applied for other patents related to touchscreen Macs, suggesting that it has been exploring the concept for several years.However, Apple has consistently maintained that a touchscreen Mac is not a desirable product and that users should purchase both a Mac and an iPad.
In a 2018 interview with Wired, Apple's senior VP of Software Engineering said: “We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do. I don't think we've looked at any of the other guys to date and said, how fast can we get there?"

"An integrated touchscreen can include light emitting diodes or organic light emitting diodes (LEDs/OLEDs), display chiplets and touch chiplets disposed in a visible area of the integrated touch screen. For example... the integrated touchscreen can also include electrodes disposed in the visible area of the integrated touch screen,” the patent explains.
The illustration in the patent shows a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen but the text says "an example personal computer that includes a trackpad and an integrated touch screen."
Moreover, the patent also noted: “Additionally it should be understood that although the disclosure herein primarily focuses on integrated touch screens. Some of the disclosure is also applicable to touch sensor panels without a corresponding display.”
Apart from this, the patent mainly focuses on the specifics of making any touchscreen work. In the patent, the company shares detailed explanations of how a screen can "include light emitting diodes or organic light emitting diodes (LEDs/OLEDs)." The patent also includes discussions of "display chiplets and touch chiplets" to allow for touch-detection.
Apple also noted that "touch screens... are popular because of their ease and versatility of operation as well as their declining price." However, the cost may not the be reason that has stopped the company from putting a touchscreen into a MacBook Pro.