Apple has announced the OLED MacBook Pro, a redesigned laptop with a touchscreen display, slimmer bezels and a thinner body than the current models. The 14-inch version starts at $2,899 and the 16-inch version starts at $3,399, according to Engadget.
Those are the highest launch prices Apple has ever set for a MacBook Pro. The touchscreen is also a first for the Mac, which Apple has kept separate from its touch devices until now.
Specs of the OLED MacBook Pro
Apple officially calls the laptop the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR. It runs on either the M5 Pro or M5 Max chip, the same options found in the non-touch models. Apple says the 14-inch version weighs three pounds, down from 3.4 pounds for the current 14-inch MacBook Pro.
The 16-inch version weighs four pounds. By comparison, the non-touch 16-inch model weighs between 4.7 and 4.8 pounds.
The thinner bezels let Apple fit larger panels into each size, with a 14.2-inch screen on the smaller model and a 16.3-inch screen on the larger one. Apple rates the display at 2,000 nits of peak brightness and claims an “industry-leading” 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The refresh rate stays at 120Hz, the same as existing MacBook Pros.
The redesign also adds a Dynamic Island around the webcam. In a nod to older Apple laptops, the logo on the lid lights up again.
Ports and connectivity
Apart from the screen, the OLED MacBook Pro looks much like the rest of the lineup. It keeps three Thunderbolt 5 USB-C ports, MagSafe charging, HDMI, a headphone jack and an SDXC card slot.
How touch works in macOS
Apple says its own apps are optimized for touch on the new laptop. Other apps will still respond to a tap, because macOS treats touch input as clicks. In Apple’s demo video, people scroll pages, swipe through media and rotate 3D objects on screen.
The demo also suggests users can use iOS apps on the Mac the same way they would on a phone, which could help developers test their software. Meanwhile, third-party apps including Notion, Canva, PowerPoint and Blender will support the touchscreen natively.
Touchscreen laptops have been common on Windows for about 15 years. Microsoft pushed touch onto PCs with Windows 8, partly to compete with the iPad. Apple, however, kept touch on iOS, iPadOS and watchOS, while macOS stayed built around keyboards and trackpads.
Pricing for the OLED MacBook Pro
The base prices are only the starting point. A fully loaded 16-inch model with an M5 Max chip, 128GB of RAM and 16TB of storage costs $14,549. Engadget compares the pricing to the recent RTX Spark Windows laptops, which also sit at the top of the market.
MacBook Pro prices had already gone up after Apple’s recent increases, and the new model goes further still. Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar writes that the top configuration is not meant for regular consumers. Still, Hardawar points to rising demand for powerful local AI hardware as a possible market for a maxed-out OLED MacBook Pro.