Apple's new MacBook Pro adds a touchscreen and a tandem OLED display for the first time. The 14-inch starts at $2,899 and ships Nov. 6.
Apple on Wednesday, Oct. 28, announced a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, the first Mac laptop that responds to touch. The 14-inch model starts at $2,899, the 16-inch at $3,399, and both ship Friday, Nov. 6, according to Apple's press release.
What Apple announced
The new laptops use what Apple calls the PROLED XDR Display, a tandem OLED panel. Apple says it reaches up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR and SDR brightness with a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Those are Apple's figures, and no independent tests exist yet.
Ars Technica reports that Apple's demo video showed people reaching up to touch the screen in a normal laptop pose, including dragging files and pinch-to-zoom, and that this does not look like a 2-in-1 convertible. TechCrunch adds that Apple built a hinge meant to keep the screen steady when you tap it.
The camera notch is gone. In its place is the Dynamic Island, which Apple says will handle Spotlight, Live Activities and Siri on the Mac. Apple also lists a 3-pound 14-inch body and a 4-pound 16-inch body, lighter than the models they replace.
Prices and chips
The 14-inch with an M5 Pro chip starts at $2,899 and the 16-inch at $3,399. Step up to the M5 Max and the starting prices become $4,499 and $4,799. Memory goes up to 128GB and storage up to 16TB. The Verge notes the base 14-inch M5 Pro model comes with 24GB of memory and 1TB of storage, and that nano-texture glass costs $150 extra.
Apple says pre-orders open on Oct. 28 through apple.com and the Apple Store app. TechCrunch lists Oct. 30 as the pre-order date, so check Apple's store before you plan around either day. The Verge says Best Buy is expected to follow with its own listings.
What is still unclear
Ars Technica points out that the touchscreen model uses the M5 Pro and M5 Max, not the M6 chip that arrived in the standard 14-inch MacBook Pro a day earlier. Apple has not explained how it handles burn-in on an OLED laptop beyond saying its display engine tracks pixel use over time. That is the question we would want answered before spending this much.
Our take
This is a big change for the Mac, and it is priced like one. The touchscreen model costs $900 more than the $1,999 M6 MacBook Pro, though the two use different chips, so it is not a like-for-like comparison. If you edit photos or video and want the best screen Apple makes, this is the one to watch. If you mostly browse and write, the cheaper M6 model does the job. Reviews will tell us whether touch on macOS feels natural or just feels tacked on.
Related reading
Picture credit: Apple
