Apple Unveils Its First Touchscreen MacBook Pro With OLED Display, Priced $400 Above Standard Models

AAPL introduced its first touchscreen Mac on Oct. 28, a MacBook Pro with a tandem OLED display it calls PROLED XDR, reversing a stance the company held for nearly a decade. The 14-inch model starts at $2,899 and the 16-inch at $3,399, $400 above the standard M5 Pro MacBook Pro at $2,499 and $2,999, which remains on sale for buyers who do not want touch. The machines were unveiled at Apple's Pro and Tell event in Los Angeles, with deliveries starting Nov. 6.

The touch models run Apple's M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, not the M6 used in the 14-inch MacBook Pro that starts at $1,999, and can be configured with up to 128GB of unified memory and 16TB of storage, a new top option. The display reaches 2,000 nits of peak brightness, up from 1,600 nits on the prior Mini-LED panel, with a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio. A Dynamic Island-style cutout replaces the notch, both models are lighter at 3.0 and 4.0 pounds, and the glowing Apple logo returns on the lid about ten years after Apple dropped it. Battery life is rated up to 24 hours on the 16-inch M5 Pro and up to 22 hours on the 14-inch M5 Pro.

Apple framed touch as an addition rather than a replacement for the keyboard and trackpad. "We needed to get to a point where adding touch didn't make the product lesser in any way," CEO John Ternus said. Apple released developer videos on designing for touch on the Mac, with live sessions scheduled for Nov. 18 and 19, and Best Buy is offering a $100 e-gift card on all configurations. Price is the likely flashpoint: Engadget praised the display but concluded the touch models probably are not worth the extra $400 for most buyers.

What to watch: early delivery estimates and retailer promotions as a read on demand, how quickly major Mac apps adopt touch, and whether the $400 premium holds or Apple extends touch further down the lineup.