Apple has ended a decade-long refusal to put a touchscreen on the Mac. The new MacBook Pro pairs touch with a tandem OLED display, M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and the iPhone's Dynamic Island.
By ToisThe Staff | Published October 28, 2026
LOS ANGELES — Apple on Wednesday unveiled the first MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive display, ending years of resistance to a feature that has been standard on many Windows laptops for more than a decade. The new machine, officially called the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, comes in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes and starts at $2,899 in the United States.
Pre-orders opened Wednesday in 30 countries and regions, including the U.S., and the laptops begin arriving in customers' hands and in stores on Friday, November 6, Apple said.
Key Points
- The new MacBook Pro is the first Mac with a touchscreen. The touch sensor is built into the display panel rather than layered on top.
- It uses a tandem OLED display Apple calls PROLED XDR, with up to 2,000 nits of brightness and a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio.
- It runs on M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, with up to 128GB of memory and up to 16TB of storage.
- The Dynamic Island, a feature from the iPhone, comes to the Mac for the first time.
- Prices start at $2,899 for the 14-inch model and $3,399 for the 16-inch, both with M5 Pro.
- Apple says it is thinner and lighter than before, with up to 24 hours of battery life.
What Apple Announced
The company introduced the laptop at an event in Los Angeles it called "Pro and Tell," capping a week of Mac and iPad launches. Earlier this week Apple introduced an OLED iPad mini, a new iMac with the M6 chip and a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip. Touch is standard on the new PROLED XDR models, and non-touch MacBook Pro models remain on sale, according to Macworld.
Apple chief hardware officer Johny Srouji described the laptop in a statement as a major step forward for the Mac, saying the combination of the new display, touch and the latest chips gives professionals a new way to work with their content.
Touch Comes to the Mac
The headline change is touch. Apple says the sensor is integrated directly into the display panel, which it says reduces lag and makes the screen feel more responsive. Users can scroll with a swipe, pinch to zoom on a photo, drag and drop slides between presentations, double-tap a window to fill the screen or flick it to tile it. Apple also redesigned the hinge so the screen stays steadier when touched, and added automatic video stabilization to smooth a webcam feed on video calls while the screen is being touched.
Many existing apps will work with touch right away, Apple says, because macOS translates touches into clicks. Apple has also updated its gesture APIs so developers can build touch-specific features. The company said apps including Notion, Canva, Zoom, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Adobe Lightroom, DaVinci Resolve, Blender, Maxon Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Shapr3D and Algoriddim djay Pro will take advantage of touch, but noted in its release that those apps will be available later this year.
Apple's own creative apps are being updated as well. In Pixelmator Pro, designers can draw and paint directly on the canvas. In Logic Pro, musicians can play software instruments on an on-screen multi-touch keyboard. In Final Cut Pro, editors can mark ranges and drop clips into place by touch. Apple says those Apple Creator Studio updates arrive in November for free for current subscribers, while new subscribers pay $12.99 a month or $129 a year.
A Reversal of Apple's Own Position
Apple long argued against touchscreen laptops. CNBC reported that John Ternus, now Apple's chief executive, said while leading hardware engineering that the Mac was built for indirect input, using a keyboard and trackpad. It also reported that software chief Craig Federighi said in 2018 that the ergonomics of a vertical touchscreen would tire users. Ternus acknowledged the shift on Wednesday, telling CNBC: "Yes, for the very first time, we are bringing touch to the Mac."
In an interview with Wired's Steven Levy, Ternus described the Mac as, first and foremost, an indirect input device, while saying touch can be comfortable and handy in some situations, according to a Techmeme summary of the piece.
Bloomberg reported in 2025 that Apple was preparing a touch-screen Mac, calling it a reversal of a stance that dates back to co-founder Steve Jobs. The company previously experimented with touch on the Mac through the Touch Bar, a thin OLED strip that appeared on MacBook Pros from 2016 and was dropped entirely in 2023, The Verge noted.
The PROLED XDR Display
Apple says the display uses tandem OLED technology, stacking two self-illuminating pixel layers to improve brightness and contrast while avoiding the blooming or halos that can affect other panel types. A custom display engine adjusts the color and brightness of each pixel in real time, and Apple says it also tracks how each pixel is used over time to help preserve image quality.
| Display spec | Apple's figure |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 14.2 inches and 16.3 inches |
| Peak brightness | Up to 2,000 nits, HDR and SDR |
| Contrast ratio | 10,000,000:1 |
| Refresh rate | Adaptive, from 10Hz to 120Hz |
| Color | P3 and Adobe RGB, with more than 80% Rec. 2020 coverage |
| Glare reduction | Anti-reflective coating, optional nano-texture glass |
For professionals, Apple added calibration tools, industry-standard reference modes for film, photography and print, and new medical-imaging reference modes intended only for nondiagnostic review, research and education. The display also supports genlock, which synchronizes the screen's refresh rate with a camera to reduce visual artifacts during filming.
The Dynamic Island Arrives on Mac
The Dynamic Island, the pill-shaped area at the top of recent iPhones, now sits at the top of the Mac display. Apple says it will serve as the home for Spotlight search, Live Activities and its new Siri AI assistant, letting users do things like accept an AirDrop request or pause music with a tap. Apple notes that Spotlight only moves to the Dynamic Island if Siri AI is available and turned on.
The laptop ships with macOS 27, which Apple calls "Golden Gate." Apple says Siri AI is in beta in macOS 27.2, works in English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, and is subject to daily usage limits on some server-based features.
Performance, Design and Battery
The new MacBook Pro uses Apple's M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with memory configurable up to 128GB and storage up to 16TB. Apple says the M5 Max can run large language models with hundreds of billions of parameters entirely on the device. Each GPU core includes a Neural Accelerator for AI workloads, and the chips add a third-generation ray-tracing engine for 3D rendering.
Apple says the redesign is lighter. The 14-inch model weighs 3 pounds, half a pound less than before, and the 16-inch weighs 4 pounds, 0.7 pounds lighter. The 14-inch model is half a millimeter thinner and the 16-inch is nearly a millimeter thinner. Apple credits OLED's more efficient display stack and a redesigned cooling system that moves warm air away from the screen. The company claims up to 24 hours of battery life, based on its own testing, and says fast charging can reach 50% in 30 minutes.
- Ports: three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, MagSafe and a headphone jack
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6
- External displays: up to three with M5 Pro, up to four with M5 Max
- Camera and audio: a 12MP Center Stage camera and a six-speaker system with 50% deeper bass, according to Apple
- Security: Touch ID
Price and Availability
| Model | Starting price (U.S.) | With education savings |
|---|---|---|
| 14-inch, M5 Pro | $2,899 | $2,749 |
| 16-inch, M5 Pro | $3,399 | $3,199 |
| 14-inch, M5 Max | $4,499 | $4,199 |
| 16-inch, M5 Max | $4,799 | $4,499 |
Pre-orders opened October 28 on apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 30 countries and regions. The laptops arrive from November 6 at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. In the U.S., Apple's lease program starts at $55.99 a month for 36 months.
Analysis: What the Move Means for Apple
Analysts quoted by CNBC framed the addition cautiously. IDC's Ryan Reith said the change is mainly a matter of interface and software rather than a hardware breakthrough. IDC data cited by CNBC show that only about 17% of notebooks shipped worldwide this year have touchscreens, and that they sell at slightly lower average prices than non-touch laptops. CNBC also reported that the launch comes with higher prices as the overall PC market contracted faster than Apple's own shipments in the third quarter of 2026.
The launch is also the latest in a fast run of Apple hardware releases under Ternus, according to CNBC, which described it as his third major product launch as chief executive.
What We Don't Know Yet
- Independent testing. Brightness, battery life and weight figures come from Apple. Reviewers have had limited hands-on time so far.
- How well touch works day to day. Apple says macOS translates touch into clicks, but many apps have not been redesigned for touch yet.
- Long-term OLED durability. Apple says its display engine tracks pixel usage to help preserve image quality, but real-world results will take time to show.
- Third-party app support. Apple says the major apps it listed arrive later this year, without exact dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the new MacBook Pro a touchscreen?
Yes. It is the first Mac with a touch-sensitive display, and Apple says the touch sensor is built into the display panel.
What does PROLED XDR mean?
It is Apple's name for its new tandem OLED display, which stacks two light-emitting layers to deliver higher brightness and contrast than a single-layer OLED. XDR stands for Extreme Dynamic Range.
How much does the touchscreen MacBook Pro cost?
Prices in the U.S. start at $2,899 for the 14-inch model with M5 Pro and go up to $4,799 for the 16-inch model with M5 Max.
When can I buy it?
Pre-orders opened October 28. The laptops begin arriving and go on sale in stores on Friday, November 6.
Does the touchscreen MacBook Pro have a Touch Bar?
No. Apple removed the Touch Bar from MacBook Pro models in 2023, and the new touchscreen model does not bring it back.
Which chips does it use?
M5 Pro and M5 Max, with up to 128GB of unified memory and up to 16TB of storage.
Do regular MacBook Pros still exist?
Yes. According to Macworld, non-touchscreen MacBook Pro models remain on sale alongside the new lineup.
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