Apple ships first touch MacBook Pro for $2,899

Apple announced its first laptop with a touchscreen on Wednesday at an event in Los Angeles. CEO John Ternus introduced the new MacBook Pro, which features an OLED display that supports gestures like scrolling, swiping, and pinching. The launch ends a long period during which the company avoided building such devices.

Apple labels the screen a PROLED XDR display, a tandem OLED panel. It reaches up to 2,000 nits of peak SDR brightness and runs at a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The contrast ratio is 10,000,000:1. The company states that the touch sensor is built directly into the display panel rather than layered on top, a design choice intended to reduce latency. The webcam is positioned in a hole punch instead of a notch, and a Dynamic Island on the screen displays items such as Live Activities.

The new model is lighter than previous versions. The 14-inch version weighs as little as 3 pounds, compared with 3.4 pounds for the new M6 MacBook Pro models. The 16-inch version weighs 4 pounds, while the non-touch M5 Pro model weighs 4.7 pounds. The glowing Apple logo has also returned to the lid. Pricing starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch model and $3,399 for the 16-inch model.

The device uses M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, not the M6 chip found in other MacBook Pros announced this week. Preorders are open immediately, and the laptop is scheduled for release on November 6th. This shift reverses long-standing company policy, as former CEO Steve Jobs previously described touchscreen laptops as ergonomically terrible. Apple made macOS more touch-friendly for this release, though it remains to be seen if all ergonomic concerns are fully resolved.

The announcement capped a week of product releases. On Monday, Apple introduced a new iPad Mini with an upgraded OLED display and a thinner design. On Tuesday, it refreshed the iMac and the entry-level MacBook Pro with M6 chips. The M6 is Apple's first 2nm chip and includes a dual 16-core Neural Engine. The company claims the M6 iMac delivers up to 5x faster on-device AI performance than the M4 model. The iMac starts at $1,499 and looks largely unchanged.

These launches continue a streak of product news since Ternus became CEO on September 1st. Recent releases have included the iPhone 18 Pro, new Apple Watches, the AirPods 5, and the HomePod Mini 2. The event also followed the debut of the HomeView smart display and the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable, announced just over a month ago.