Apple launches first touchscreen MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR display

Apple has unveiled its first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, ending more than a decade of keeping touch off its laptop screens. The new model is available from 6 November, with prices ranging from £2,899 to £14,549.

The laptop has a PROLED XDR display, which Apple calls "the world's best laptop display". Users can scroll web pages with a swipe, zoom into photos with a pinch, and drag slides in presentations. Double-tapping a window fills the screen. The new MacBook Pro comes in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, weighing about three and four pounds respectively. Apple says the battery lasts up to 24 hours.

Apple chief hardware officer Johny Srouji said the laptop is "a monumental step forward for the Mac". He said the touch feature, together with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, gives professionals "a whole new way" to work with their content. The company says the touch sensor sits inside the display panel itself, so the screen feels like it responds to the content directly.

A long-standing position reversed

Apple has long resisted touch on its laptops. Steve Jobs called touchscreen laptops "ergonomically terrible" in 2010, sixteen years before this launch. Apple now presents touch as a practical tool for creative professionals who work on 3D models or play instruments on screen.

The laptop also gets M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, up to 128GB of memory and up to 16TB of storage. The launch film, which runs one minute and 50 seconds, focuses on the display's anti-glare coating and real-time pixel correction.

What readers should know

The details here come from Apple's own announcement and the product's launch material. Apple has not said how the touch feature will affect the laptop's price in other markets beyond the UK prices given. Independent testers have not yet published their findings on the screen or battery life.