Apple Unveils Touchscreen MacBook Pro With PROLED XDR Tandem OLED Display

Apple used its Pro and Tell event in Los Angeles on October 28 to introduce the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, the first Mac with a touchscreen. The 14-inch and 16-inch models pair a tandem OLED panel with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, a Dynamic Island and a lighter chassis, according to Apple’s press release. Pre-orders opened the same day, and the machines arrive in stores and to customers starting Friday, November 6.

The display is the headline. Apple says PROLED XDR reaches up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness for both HDR and SDR content, with a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio and ProMotion refresh rates from 10Hz to 120Hz. It covers both the P3 and Adobe RGB color spaces, which Apple says works out to more than 80 percent of Rec. 2020, and every panel is factory calibrated. A nano-texture option, now etched into the cover glass, is available for buyers who work in bright light. The screen sizes grow slightly thanks to slimmer borders, to 14.2 inches and 16.3 inches.

Touch is built into the display panel rather than layered on top, which Apple says cuts latency. Swiping to scroll, pinching to zoom and double-tapping a window to fill the screen all work, and macOS translates touches into clicks so existing apps respond without updates. Apple also updated its gesture APIs for developers and named third-party apps that will add touch support, including Microsoft Office, Adobe Lightroom, DaVinci Resolve, Blender and Zoom. A redesigned hinge is meant to keep the screen steady when tapped. Apple did not announce Apple Pencil support, a gap The Verge flagged in its hands-on.

The Dynamic Island now sits at the top of the Mac display and holds Spotlight, Live Activities and Siri AI. Apple’s own footnotes say Spotlight only moves there when Siri AI is available and enabled, and Siri AI is in beta in macOS 27.2.

The new design is lighter. The 14-inch model weighs 3 pounds, half a pound less than before, and the 16-inch weighs 4 pounds, 0.7 pounds less. Apple says the thinner OLED stack trims about half a millimeter from the 14-inch and nearly a millimeter from the 16-inch, and a redesigned thermal system keeps the same sustained performance. Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours. Memory goes up to 128GB and storage is now configurable up to 16TB. Ports include three Thunderbolt 5 connections, HDMI, an SDXC slot, MagSafe and a headphone jack, and the M5 Max version drives up to four external displays. Apple also lists a reworked six-speaker system with 50 percent deeper bass, a 12MP Center Stage camera, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.

Pricing starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch with M5 Pro and $3,399 for the 16-inch with M5 Pro. M5 Max configurations start at $4,499 and $4,799. The Verge notes the 14-inch touch model costs $400 more than the comparable non-touch M5 Pro MacBook Pro, which stays on sale. MacRumors reports that Apple is selling the OLED models alongside the existing mini-LED machines and the new M6 14-inch MacBook Pro.

“This is the only MacBook Pro, and yes, for the very first time, we are bringing touch to the Mac,” CEO John Ternus said on stage, as quoted by The Indian Express.

The laptop closed a week of Apple releases. On October 26 Apple announced the OLED iPad mini, and on October 27 it announced the M6 iMac and an M6 14-inch MacBook Pro by press release. Apple also said updates to Apple Creator Studio, with touch support in Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and Pixelmator Pro, arrive on the App Store this November. Our earlier preview covered the reports that came before the launch; the details above are what Apple has now confirmed.

Sources: Apple Newsroom, Apple Newsroom Mac archive, The Verge, The Verge hands-on, MacRumors, The Indian Express