Apple Unveils Long-Awaited Touchscreen MacBook Pro, Ending Decades of Public Skepticism Over Touch-First Laptops

After years of openly resisting the idea of touch-enabled Mac laptops, Apple officially launched its first full touchscreen MacBook Pro lineup today, with entry-level pricing starting at $2,899.

The release arrives almost 10 years after the brand’s first tentative experiment with touch input on its pro laptops: the original Touch Bar accessory integrated into the top of the 2016 MacBook Pro keyboard, a feature Apple eventually phased out entirely. This new generation of MacBook Pro fully commits to direct on-screen interaction, outfitting both 14-inch and 16-inch size variants with the brand-new PROLED XDR Display.

Hardware specs across the lineup include configurable M5 Pro and M5 Max chip options, support for up to 128GB of unified memory, and a maximum storage tier of 16TB. The new display delivers 2,000 nits of peak brightness for both HDR and SDR content, paired with a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Apple’s engineering team designed a custom reinforced hinge specifically to keep the screen stable when users tap, swipe or draw directly on the display — a side benefit of this stabilized design is that the built-in webcam stays steady for clear video calls, even if a user is interacting with on-screen content mid-call. The familiar notch found on most current MacBook models is also retired, replaced with a Dynamic Island-style cutout matching the design language of recent high-end iPhones. The new pro laptops also pack a six-speaker audio array with a redesigned woofer architecture for richer, more immersive sound output.

The 14-inch touchscreen MacBook Pro weighs just 3.0 pounds (1.38 kg), while the 16-inch model comes in at 4.0 pounds (1.82 kg) — both are lighter than their non-touch predecessors. I/O is generous for professional workflows: both sizes include three Thunderbolt 5 ports, a full-size HDMI port, an SDXC card slot, MagSafe charging, and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. For multi-monitor setups, the M5 Pro configuration can power up to three external displays, while the top-tier M5 Max variant supports up to four external monitors at once.

Pricing starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch touchscreen MacBook Pro, and $3,399 for the 16-inch model. Customers can place pre-orders for the new devices starting October 30, with general in-store availability and official shipping kicking off November 6.

This launch marks the second major flagship product debut for newly appointed Apple CEO John Ternus, who also introduced the company’s first foldable device, the iPhone Duo, back in September. The touchscreen MacBook’s arrival is a notable reversal of long-held public positions from past Apple leadership: figures including Steve Jobs and Tim Cook previously publicly scoffed at the concept of a touchscreen Mac, with Jobs famously calling the idea “ergonomically terrible” in a public keynote. Industry rumors about Apple developing a touchscreen MacBook first began circulating nearly three years ahead of today’s official announcement. The new touchscreen lineup launches just one day after Apple unveiled its updated standard non-touch 14-inch MacBook Pro, powered by the new M6 chip and priced starting at $1,999.