MacBook Pros Might Soon Have Touchscreens - DTNS 5127

OnePlus unveiled a big OxygenOS 16 release coming with the OnePlus 15, and Andy Beach talks about the Screen Actors Guild’s first AI casting.

Starring Jason Howell, Jenn Cutter, Tom Merritt and Andy Beach.

JASON: This is the Daily Tech News for Friday, October 17th, 2025. We tell you what you need to know, follow up on the context of those stories and help each other understand.

JENN: Today Andy Beach tells us about the Screen Actor Guild’s first AI casting and how Apple MacBooks might finally get a touchscreen.

I’m Jason Howell,

I’m Jenn Cutter.

JASON: Let’s start with what you need to know with the big story.

BIG STORY

Apple Readies Its First Ever Touch-Screen MacBook
Apple's M6 MacBook Pro generation will reportedly offer touchscreens

JASON: Mark Gurman at Bloomberg is reporting that Apple will introduce touchscreens into its upcoming MacBook Pro models with a projected release in late 2026 or early 2027. This backs up an earlier report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from last month. The updated laptops will feature M6 chips, along with OLED screens along with "reinforced hinge and screen hardware" for improved stability along with the new touch-based control type. Gurman's report also states that the new laptops will incorporate "thinner and lighter frames." The display will also no longer have the notch up top, replaced by a hole-punch design surrounding the front facing camera.

Don't worry, the keyboard and touchpad won't be going away with the transition to touchscreens. But do worry, if you don't like spending more money, because Gurman says these changes are likely to increase the cost by several hundred dollars to account for the higher-end components. Apple is expected to roll out these features to the high-end MacBook Pros first, as it monitors market demand to see if it should bring the feature to more of its lower end options down the line.

JENN: DTNS is made possible by you the listener. Thanks to
Norm Fazekas

 Chris Allen
Reid Fishler
New Patrons: Sebastian and Marc

JASON: There’s more we need to know today, let’s get to the briefs.

BRIEFS

OxygenOS 16 has new lock screen customization options and a novel Gemini integration
JENN: OnePlus has taken the veil off OxygenOS 16, the next major update of its mobile operating system set to release on the upcoming OnePlus 15. The new update includes deeper Gemini AI integration with its Mind Space app, letting users reference saved content with Google's AI model. The update also includes improved personalization options for creating vibrant lock screens with Motion Photos, an AI Writer for text work, including turning text into mind maps and tables, improvements to animations and fluidity throughout the OS, and enhanced photo editing tools like Portrait Glow and Perfect Shot. OxygenOS 16 will roll out to select OnePlus devices starting in November 2025.

Hackers Dox Hundreds of DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ Officials
JASON: A group of hackers published highly personal data, including the names, phone numbers, and addresses of hundreds of US government officials on Telegram. The group appears to be from Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters and the Com. Officials from the US Department of Justice, the FBI, ICE, and nearly 700 from DHS are included in the information dump. Some of the data released is confirmed to match real government officials' addresses. The agencies themselves have not yet publicly commented on the incident. The DHS claims that Mexican cartels are offering cash for doxing agents, but US authorities have not yet provided evidence of those bounties. The group is an offshoot of communities behind other major data breaches like Scattered Spider, which targeted MGM Resorts, and LAPSUS$, which targeted gaming companies like Electronic Arts.

Anthropic turns to ‘skills’ to make Claude more useful at work
Claude Skills are awesome, maybe a bigger deal than MCP
JENN: Anthropic introduced "Claude Skill" for its Claude AI model, allowing users to create folders containing Markdown files with instructions, scripts, and other resources tailored to specific tasks. The upgrade will make Claude smarter at tasks like handling Excel documents or sticking to brand guidelines. Skills leverages Claude's coding environment to create an agent that's capable of automating any number of computer tasks. Companies like Box, Canva, and Rakuten are using the tools. The update is available to Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise customers.

Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors
JASON: Wikipedia is experiencing a notable drop in human visitors, according the Wikimedia Foundation Senior Director of Product Marshall Miller, which he says is the result of generative AI chatbots and search engine summarizations. Miller told 404media that although AI and platforms increasingly rely on Wikipedia for training data and answers, the resulting traffic loss is about 8% compared to last year and that threatens the long term viability of the resource. The Foundation is enforcing policies for third-party bots and encouraging responsible use and access of Wikipedia's content, and also urges users to look for citations and click through to original sources when using generative AI tools to access this kind of information.

JASON: And here’s some headlines that are good to know for future stories that may come up on the show.

Apple and F1 reach 5-year media deal, bringing all races to Apple TV streaming in the U.S.
JENN: Apple and Formula 1 signed a $140 million-per-year, five year US media deal to stream every F1 race exclusively on Apple TV beginning in 2026. This replaces ESPN as the media partner and includes F1 TV Premium for Apple TV subscribers with some races available for free in the Apple TV app.

OpenAI pauses Sora video generations of Martin Luther King Jr.
JASON: OpenAI has halted Sora video generations of Martin Luther King Jr. after his estate flagged "disrespectful depictions" of his image. OpenAI asserts that public figures should continue to have control over how their likeness is used with the service.

Apple TV and Peacock bundle starts at $15/month, available on Oct. 20
JENN: Apple is breaking tradition by partnering with Peacock to offer a discounted streaming bundle that starts at $15 per month, starting October 20. Apple also plans to offer select Apple Originals to Peacock subscribers.

Steam just broke its concurrent user record with 41.6 million gamers
JASON: Steam just shattered its concurrent user record, reaching 41.6 million gamers on October 12, timed with the release of popular titles like Battlefield 6 and Hollow Knight: Silksong, and demos from Steam Next Fest.

Meta is shutting down its desktop Messenger app
JENN: Meta will shut down its Messenger app for macOS and Windows on December 15, pushing desktop users to the Facebook app on Windows, and Facebook and Messenger website for those chats. Meta provided no explanation for the end of the dedicated apps.

JENN: Those are the essentials for today. Let’s dive a little deeper.

JASON: The first voice actors have been cast under the Screen Actors Guild’s new rules for AI in entertainment. Andy Beach tells us how it all went down.

PROMO

JENN: Need a snazzy gift for a co-worker or colleague? We got dozens of ideas at dailytechnewsshow.com/store! Pick up a mug, t-shirt or mouse pad with our new DTNS Logo! They're great gifts and a great way to support the show!

HELPING EACH OTHER UNDERSTAND

JASON: We end every episode of DTNS with some shared wisdom. Today we have a couple of folks with different perspectives on the new Copilot features for Windows 11.

JENN: Andrew says:
I had a visceral "no" response to the Microsoft story about elevating voice to be a first class input to the computer.

Some of that likely stems from having worked in "open floor plan" offices, which are already noisy and distracting as individuals have very different norms about whether or not to take meetings out in the main area. If some portion of the people are also talking to their computers all day, it may be unbearable.

Andrew from Colorado

JASON: And Marty says:
Hey Jason!

I've had access to Copilot Vision for a few weeks … I tried asking it how to do things in an app I was developing, and it did a good job at identifying user flows and creating a virtual mouse cursor to guide me around the app and showed me what to click on and stuff. For a private app where it couldn't have had prior training data on specifically, I thought it was pretty smooth.

JENN: What are you thinking about? Got some insight into a story? Share it with us feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com

JASON: Thanks to Andy Beach, Marty and Andrew for contributing to today’s show. And thank YOU for being along for Daily Tech News Show. You can keep us in business by becoming a patron, atPatreon.com/dtns