Apple Introduces Touchscreen MacBook Pro Powered by M5 Chips

Apple has added a touchscreen display to the MacBook Pro for the first time, reversing years of company resistance. John Ternus announced the new laptops at an Apple event, where he introduced the PROLED XDR display that uses tandem OLED technology. According to TechCrunch, the device starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch model and $3,399 for the 16-inch version, while Indian pricing starts at Rs 3,49,900 for the 14-inch M5 Pro model.

Features And Design

The new display offers a peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits, a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1, and an adaptive refresh rate up to 120 Hz. The laptops also feature a Dynamic Island-style cutout, a redesigned hinge for stability during touch actions, and updated thermal systems. The 14-inch model weighs around 1.36 kg, while the 16-inch version weighs about 1.81 kg. Connectivity options include three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, MagSafe charging, and a headphone jack.

Performance And Pricing

Under the hood, the laptops are powered by M5 Pro and M5 Max processors with support for up to 128GB of unified memory and up to 16TB of storage. The M5 Max can run large language models with hundreds of billions of parameters entirely on the device. In India, the 16-inch M5 Pro is priced at Rs 4,09,900, the 14-inch M5 Max at Rs 5,49,900, and the 16-inch M5 Max at Rs 5,89,900, with education pricing also available starting from Rs 3,31,900.

Context

Apple previously relied on the Touch Bar and argued against touchscreens on laptops, with past leaders calling the concept ergonomically poor. This release represents a major shift in the company's hardware design strategy for professional computers. Pre-orders begin on October 28 or October 30 depending on the market, with general availability starting on November 6.