Apple's first touch MacBook Pro starts at $2,899

Apple announced on Wednesday the first Mac laptop with a touchscreen, a product it had resisted building for more than a decade. The new MacBook Pro, unveiled at a Los Angeles event, replaces the traditional mouse and trackpad interface with an OLED display that recognizes scrolling, swiping, and pinching gestures.

The hardware specifications emphasize the screen technology. Apple labels the panel a PROLED XDR display, a tandem OLED unit that reaches 2,000 nits of peak SDR brightness. It supports a 120Hz refresh rate and a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The company stated that the touch sensor is built directly into the display panel rather than layered on top, a design choice intended to lower latency.

CEO John Ternus presented the machine, which is noticeably lighter than the standard MacBook Pro models announced earlier this week. The 14-inch touch version weighs as little as 3 pounds, while the newly introduced M6-equipped 14-inch model weighs 3.4 pounds. The 16-inch touch model weighs 4 pounds, compared to 4.7 pounds for the non-touch M5 Pro version. The glowing Apple logo on the lid has also returned.

Pricing begins at $2,899 for the 14-inch model and $3,399 for the 16-inch model. Preorders are open immediately, with a scheduled release date of November 6. These laptops run on M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, distinct from the M6 chips found in other MacBook Pro variants released this week.

The shift reverses a long-standing company position. Steve Jobs previously described touchscreen laptops as ergonomically terrible. Apple has adjusted macOS to accommodate touch input, though the physical layout still requires users to reach up to interact with the screen. The webcam is positioned in a hole punch, and a Dynamic Island feature on the display mirrors iPhone functionality for Live Activities.

This launch follows a busy week of product releases. Apple introduced an upgraded iPad Mini with an OLED screen on Monday. On Tuesday, it refreshed the iMac and the entry-level MacBook Pro with M6 chips. The M6 is Apple's first 2-nanometer chip, featuring a dual 16-core Neural Engine. The new iMac starts at $1,499 and skips the M5 generation entirely, arriving two years after the M4 model.