macOS Big Sur is finally here, and it comes with tons of new Mac features. But Apple has also tinkered a lot with the design: anyone who’s already installed iOS 14 on their iPhone will – if Apple’s plan works – also find things easier with Big Sur.

Apple has deliberately adopted for the Mac certain user interfaces from iPhones and iPads. And don’t forget that, thanks to the new M1 chip, iOS apps can also be installed on the new MacBook Air, 13in MacBook Pro and Mac mini.

The innovations were reason enough for a number of users to speculate shortly after the Big Sur release about whether Apple was planning to release Macs with touchscreen functionality. But in an interview with The Independent, Apple’s chief developer Craig Federighi revealed that Apple is not currently planning anything like this. Just because the user interface has been changed, this is not “some signalling of a future change in input methods,” Federighi says.

Apple usually keeps a low profile with announcements of new features, especially groundbreaking ones like a touch Mac, sticking to the motto “We don’t talk about future products.” Even if Apple denies such a feature, a tweet from a user heats up all the rumours again. There was a picture in the Mac App Store of a finger touching the widgets on the Mac.

Pure coincidence? Maybe Apple also has an ace up its sleeve. After all, it is said that Apple still has a Christmas surprise ready for us.

For more discussion of this perennial rumour, read Will there be a touchscreen Mac? And remember to check out our roundup of the best Black Friday Apple deals for the latest bargains.

This article originally appeared on Macwelt. Translation by David Price.