Apple Debuts First Touchscreen MacBook Pro at 'Pro and Tell' Event

Apple has officially entered the touchscreen laptop market, unveiling a new MacBook Pro at its "Pro and tell" event on Wednesday. The device arrives after years of skepticism from company leadership; former CEO Tim Cook once compared the convergence of tablets and laptops to combining a toaster and a refrigerator, while Steve Jobs previously described touchscreen laptops as "ergonomically terrible," according to reporting from The Verge.

The new lineup features a "PROLED XDR" tandem OLED display with a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio and up to 2,000 nits of peak SDR brightness. Apple claims the touch sensor is integrated directly into the display panel to reduce latency. The laptops are available in two sizes: a 14.2-inch model starting at $2,899 and a 16.3-inch model starting at $3,399. For comparison, TechCrunch reports that a standard M6-powered 14-inch MacBook Pro was unveiled the previous day starting at $1,999.

Under the hood, the touchscreen models utilize M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, rather than the M6 chip found in other new MacBooks. TechCrunch notes the devices can be configured with up to 16TB of storage and 128GB of unified memory. Physical updates include a newly designed stabilizing hinge, a Dynamic Island cutout on the screen, and the return of the glowing Apple logo on the lid, as reported by The Verge and Engadget.

Both models are thinner and lighter than previous versions, with the 14-inch weighing 3 pounds and the 16-inch weighing 4 pounds. They maintain a suite of ports including three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI, an SD card reader, MagSafe 3, and a headphone jack. Pre-orders begin October 30, with a general release scheduled for November 6.