Apple unveils touchscreen MacBook Pro
Apple’s new MacBook Pro starts at $2,899, adds touch input, and marks a sharp break from the company’s long-standing stance on touchscreen laptops.
Apple has unveiled a touchscreen MacBook Pro starting at $2,899. The launch stands out because Apple spent years pushing back against the idea, and its earlier effort to bring touch to a Mac laptop — the Touch Bar — was eventually dropped. Nearly a decade later, the company is taking a much bigger step, and that puts fresh attention on how Apple now sees the MacBook.
This is not simply an existing MacBook Pro with a touch layer added on top. Apple says the new model brings a PROLED XDR Display in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, M5 Pro and M5 Max chip options, up to 128GB of unified memory, and up to 16TB of storage. It also gets a brighter display, a redesigned hinge built for touch use, and other hardware changes that make this look like a broader product shift rather than a routine refresh.
Apple reverses its long-held stance on touch
The headline feature is straightforward: Apple has put a touchscreen on the MacBook Pro. That marks a clear reversal for a company whose senior executives, including Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, had previously rejected the idea of a touchscreen Mac. Jobs once called it “ergonomically terrible,” according to the source text.
Apple had tried a different route before with the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro, but that feature never became a lasting answer and was later removed. This new model goes much further by making touch part of the laptop itself.
That is a big reason the launch is drawing attention. It is not just another MacBook update, but a change in direction from a company that had held the same position for years. Apple had remained an outlier while touchscreens became common across many laptop lines.
The new MacBook Pro adds a brighter screen and top-end specs
Apple says the touchscreen MacBook Pro uses a PROLED XDR Display in both 14-inch and 16-inch versions. The screen offers 2,000 nits peak HDR and SDR brightness and a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Apple has also replaced the notch found on most current MacBooks with a Dynamic Island-style cutout.
Inside, buyers can choose between M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. The laptop can be configured with up to 128GB of unified memory and up to 16TB of storage. Apple also says it includes a six-speaker array with a new woofer design.
As IT-PUB News notes, these specifications position the touchscreen MacBook Pro as a machine for demanding users, not just as a novelty built around tapping the screen. The pricing follows that logic: the 14-inch model starts at $2,899, while the 16-inch version starts at $3,399.
Apple says a new hinge supports touch and steadier calls
A touchscreen laptop needs to stay stable under repeated taps, and Apple says it addressed that with a new hinge design. The company says the hinge is meant to keep the display steady when users touch it, which should matter in everyday use.
Apple also says the same design helps stabilize the camera during video calls while the screen is being used. That detail suggests the company is not treating touch as a simple extra. Apple is reworking the laptop’s structure around it.
The new MacBook Pro is also lighter than its non-touch predecessors. The 14-inch version weighs 3.0 pounds, or 1.38 kg, while the 16-inch model weighs 4.0 pounds, or 1.82 kg. For people who carry a laptop often, that can matter just as much as performance.
Apple keeps the ports and multi-display support
Despite the touchscreen redesign, Apple has kept a broad set of ports on the new MacBook Pro. Both versions include three Thunderbolt 5 ports, an HDMI port, an SDXC card slot, MagSafe, and a headphone jack.
The laptop also supports multiple external displays. The M5 Pro version can connect to three external displays, while the M5 Max version supports up to four.
That keeps the device relevant not only for individual buyers, but also for people who use a MacBook as the center of a desk setup. Touch input, high-end chips, and support for several displays together suggest Apple is aiming at users who want a premium laptop for demanding work and stationary workflows.
The launch lands early in John Ternus’s tenure
The touchscreen MacBook Pro is also one of the first major product launches under new CEO John Ternus. The source says he had already introduced Apple’s first foldable, the iPhone Duo, in September. With this release, Apple is putting another prominent product into the market under its new leadership.
The timing matters too. Apple introduced a new standard MacBook Pro with the M6 chip in a 14-inch size starting at $1,999 just one day earlier. That means the company has unveiled two MacBook Pro models back to back, including one that brings touch support to the lineup for the first time.
Rumors about an Apple touchscreen Mac had circulated for nearly three years before the announcement. That long buildup, combined with Apple’s earlier resistance, helps explain why this launch is getting attention beyond the usual hardware-update cycle.
Preorders for the new touchscreen MacBook Pro open on October 30, and the device will be available starting November 6.
