Apple Unveils First Touchscreen MacBook Pro With PROLED XDR Display

Image: Collected

Apple has announced its first-ever touchscreen MacBook, ending a decade-long refusal to put touch input on the Mac. The new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display was unveiled on October 28 at Apple’s “Pro and Tell” event in Los Angeles, with pre-orders open immediately and sales beginning November 6.

A major reversal

“Yes, for the very first time, we are bringing touch to the Mac,” Apple hardware chief John Ternus said at the launch. The move marks a sharp break from Apple’s earlier position: Steve Jobs called touchscreen laptops “ergonomically terrible” in 2010, while Tim Cook once likened merging a tablet and laptop to combining “a toaster and a refrigerator.”

The touchscreen is integrated into the display panel rather than added as a separate layer, which Apple says reduces lag. Because macOS translates taps into clicks, many existing Mac applications should work with touch from day one.

Display and design

The MacBook Pro uses Apple’s new PROLED XDR display, a tandem OLED panel that replaces the previous mini-LED technology. Apple says it delivers up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness, a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a 120Hz refresh rate, and support for both P3 and Adobe RGB color spaces.

The redesign also brings the iPhone’s Dynamic Island to the Mac, housing Spotlight, Live Activities, Siri, and the Center Stage webcam. Apple says the new hinge is designed to keep the display steadier during touch use, while the 14-inch model weighs about 3 pounds and the 16-inch about 4 pounds.

The laptops run on Apple’s new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips and can be configured with up to 128GB of unified memory and 16TB of storage. Apple rates battery life at up to 24 hours.

Why it matters

The launch comes as the PC market struggles: IDC estimates overall PC shipments fell 20% year over year in the third quarter, while Apple’s fell 11%. Touchscreen notebooks remain a minority of the market—IDC projects only 17% of notebooks shipped this year will include touch—making Apple’s shift a notable bet that touch can attract both consumers and developers.

Apple says the touchscreen opens new professional uses, from manipulating 3D models to playing virtual instruments directly on the display. The company also confirmed that its existing mini-LED MacBook Pro models will remain on sale alongside the new OLED-based lineup.