Apple may be fixing two of the Mac’s most annoying limitations

The last few years have brought the Mac new growth and innovation thanks to Apple silicon. But there are still several limitations the Mac has when compared to its potential. Fortunately, two such annoyances sound like they’re on track to finally being put to rest.

Two Mac limitations: cellular and notch

Ever since the struggles of the 2010s ended, and Apple silicon debuted, the Mac has gotten into a good rhythm. Apple is shipping new Mac designs and chips with regularity, and macOS keeps up with iOS updates better than ever before.

There have still been some outlier issues, but it sounds like Apple’s planning to fix at least some of them soon.

Over the last few days we’ve gotten two exciting reports about the Mac:

1. Apple is investigating using its new in-house modems in the first cellular Macs, per Mark Gurman
2. Also, OLED MacBook Pro models are set to drop the notch for a hole-punch design, per Omdia

Both of these changes likely won’t show up until 2026, or even as late as 2027.

But when they do, they’ll solve my two biggest complaints about the Mac currently.

Mac confessions from an iPad Pro user

I should mention up front that the M4 iPad Pro is my primary computer.

I’ve long preferred the iPad over the Mac for a variety of reasons, including the iPad’s historical edge in hardware and software investment from Apple.

One simple example of this edge is Face ID. The feature launched on the iPhone in 2017, and the iPad Pro gained it one year later in 2018.

I use my iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard attached basically 24/7. And I must say, Face ID works pretty great when a screen’s pointed at your face all day. It would be perfect for the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and even the Studio Display.

But seven years in, there’s still no Face ID for the Mac.

I feel similarly about cellular and the notch.

The iPad has had cellular support for its entire 14 years of life. Yet for some reason, Apple has never brought cellular to the Mac. I thought it might fix this limitation when Apple silicon Macs arrived, but years later I’m still waiting.

I like to work on the go often, and using hotspot with my iPhone just isn’t reliable enough—plus it drains my iPhone’s battery faster. Cellular functionality on my iPad Pro is an asset.

Notch-equipped MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros aren’t as big a complaint for me, but they do still really annoy. Not because the notch is a huge deal, but because my iPad Pro has never had one.

I get that the iPad has larger bezels to support users holding it, but the notch’s presence on the Mac still makes it feel like dated tech to me.

If Apple had to include a notch on the Mac, why didn’t it ship something more modern like the iPhone 14 Pro’s pill and Dynamic Island? The flagship iPhone dropped the classic notch two years ago, and it’s never been on the iPad, but it’s still the Mac’s defining visual feature.

Wrap-up: What about touch?

Somehow, I haven’t talked about touch yet. Touchscreen Macs are reportedly in the works, but who knows if they’ll ever actually come to market.

The reason for my omission is that personally, I’d rather have cellular and a notch-free Mac than one with a touchscreen. I think it’d be great for the Mac to support touch, but I don’t expect I’d use it much. I suspect for a lot of users, though, touch support is high on their feature wishlist.

What do you think of these Mac limitations? Are you excited for them to change? Let us know in the comments.

Best Mac accessories

• 100W USB-C power adapter for fast charging
• tomtoc protective MacBook sleeve bag
• Twelve South aluminum laptop stand for MacBooks
• Anker USB-C 8-in-1 hub with Ethernet, HDMI, SD, more
• Baseus 10ft USB-C cable for extended reach

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.