Apple Sets $2,899 Price Tag for First Touchscreen MacBook Pro

Apple has priced its first touchscreen MacBook Pro at $2,899 for the 14-inch model, a figure that anchors the company's latest hardware release. The 16-inch version starts at $3,399. Preorders opened Wednesday, and the devices are scheduled to ship to customers on November 6.

The laptops feature a tandem OLED panel branded as PROLED XDR. Apple lists peak SDR brightness at 2,000 nits, a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1. These machines run on M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, distinct from the M6 processor found in other MacBook Pros announced during the same week.

A Dynamic Island now appears on the display, showing Live Activities similar to those on iPhones. The illuminated Apple logo on the lid has also returned after being absent from recent models. Apple states the touch sensor is built directly into the display panel rather than layered on top, a design choice the company claims lowers latency.

The new design reduces weight and thickness. The 14-inch model weighs 3 pounds, and the 16-inch model weighs 4 pounds. The 16-inch version is nearly a millimeter thinner than its predecessor, while the 14-inch model is half a millimeter thinner. Slimmer bezels allow for larger screens, measuring 14.2 inches and 16.3 inches respectively.

Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours. The chassis includes MagSafe 3, a headphone jack, an SD card reader, HDMI, and three Thunderbolt 5 ports. The system can drive three external displays simultaneously, or four if equipped with the M5 Max chip. Apple also cites a six-speaker sound system that offers 50 percent deeper bass and a newly designed hinge for stability.

The introduction of touch controls marks a departure from previous leadership stances. On a 2012 earnings call, then-CEO Tim Cook said, "You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user." In 2010, Steve Jobs described touchscreen laptops as "ergonomically terrible."

Apple has previously experimented with alternative inputs, including the Touch Bar introduced in 2016 and removed in 2023. This launch follows a week of announcements that included an iPad Mini with an OLED display and iMacs powered by the M6 chip.