After many, many, many, many , years, Apple has done what loads of other laptop makers have done before it: put a touchscreen in a laptop.

That’s right, folks, the touchscreen MacBook, which is almost unceremoniously dubbed the “ MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, ” is real, and we already got to look at it (and fondle it) ourselves. For that level of hands-on nuance, you can read my colleague Kyle Barr’s very thoughtful impressions, but right now, the what of the situation isn’t really the reason for my writing—it’s the why. Or maybe the lack thereof.

While laptops with touchscreens on them have existed for nearly two decades (shout out to the HP TouchSmart tx2 that was released in December 2008), Apple has very pointedly kept its distance from the touchy-feely segment.…