Almost two decades after late Apple CEO Steve Jobs called touchscreen laptops “ergonomically terrible,” the company is finally here with its first touchscreen Mac.
Dubbed the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display (I know), the new machine comes in 14-inch and 16-inch flavors. As the name implies, the star of the show is what Apple calls the “PROLED XDR” display.
According to Apple, the display tops out at 2,000 nits when watching standard and HDR content, along with a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1 and up to a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s also fully laminated, with the touch sensor built into the display to supposedly minimize latency.
As for why you would want a touch display on a MacBook Pro, Apple said it will allow developers to test iOS and iPadOS apps directly on the display. To that end, the company will release an API that will allow third-party developers to add touch to their MacOS apps.
Instead of the notch found in other MacBook Pro models, the new MacBook Pro has the Dynamic Island. Similar to what’s on the iPhone, the MacBook Pro’s Dynamic Island will show things like Live Activities and notifications.
Apple also took the opportunity to make some other changes. These include slimmer and lighter builds for the 14- and 16-inch models – they now weigh 3 and 4 pounds, respectively. Also, due to slimmer bezels, the screens are slightly bigger than before.
Oh, and Apple brought back the glowing Apple logo on the lid.
Otherwise, these are the same machines as before. That means the M5 Pro and M5 Max processors are on tab, as are the ports – one MagSafe 3 port, one headphone jack, one SD card reader, one HDMI port, and three Thunderbolt 5 ports.
Expect to pay a pretty penny for these laptops, however.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,899, while the 16-inch model starts at $3,399. Each price tag is a $400 bump from the non-touch MacBook Pro models, which will remain on sale as a “cheaper” alternative.
Pre-orders are open now, with wide availability starting next Friday, November 6.
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