After years of insisting the Mac didn’t need one, Apple has given it a touchscreen. The new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display also brings an OLED screen, the Dynamic Island and up to 24 hours of battery life. It starts from $2,899 (£2,899), with pre-orders open today and deliveries from Friday 6 November in both the US and the UK.
You can finally touch the screen
For the first time, you can reach out and touch a Mac’s display to control it. Apple’s examples are aimed squarely at creative professionals – turning and moving 3D models, or playing musical instruments onscreen, as in the picture above.
Apple hasn’t said much about how touch works in everyday tasks, so we’ll wait to try it before declaring the trackpad redundant. Your keyboard and trackpad are still there, of course.
An OLED screen that’s brighter than ever
The headline feature for pros is the new display, which Apple calls PROLED XDR. OLED screens light each pixel individually rather than using a backlight, so blacks are properly black. This one uses tandem OLED, which stacks light-producing layers to get more brightness out of the panel – the same broad approach Apple uses on the latest iPad Pro.
It reaches up to 2000 nits of brightness (nits are a measure of how bright a screen gets), both for HDR video and for everyday content. Contrast is quoted at 10,000,000:1, which in plain terms means detail in dark shadows and bright highlights at the same time.
The screen refreshes up to 120 times a second for smooth scrolling, dropping as low as 10 times a second to save power when nothing’s moving. It also covers the Adobe RGB colour range as well as P3, which matters to photographers and designers who print their work, and every panel is calibrated at the factory.
The Dynamic Island comes to the Mac
The pill-shaped Dynamic Island from the iPhone has made the jump to the Mac. Apple says it’s now the home for Spotlight search, Live Activities – the live updates you’ll know from the iPhone – and Siri AI.
If you already use an iPhone, this should feel familiar straight away, which is rather the point.
Thinner, lighter and up to 24 hours of battery
Both sizes are thinner and much lighter than before, weighing about 3 pounds for the 14-inch and 4 pounds for the 16-inch (around 1.4kg and 1.8kg). Battery life is up to 24 hours, so a full working day plus the commute home shouldn’t be a worry.
M5 Pro and M5 Max inside
Under the hood, you choose between Apple’s M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with up to 128GB of memory and up to 16TB of storage – more than most people will ever fill.
Elsewhere, there’s an upgraded six-speaker sound system that Apple says has 50 percent deeper bass, Thunderbolt 5 ports for fast connections to drives and displays, a 12MP Center Stage camera that keeps you framed on video calls, and macOS 27 with Apple Intelligence and Siri AI.
Apple’s announcement doesn’t compare this model with the rest of the MacBook Pro line-up, so if you’re weighing it against another Mac, check the specs side by side at apple.com/macbook-pro before you buy.
What it means for you
This is a professional machine with a professional price. If you edit photos or video, make music or work in 3D, the screen and touch controls could genuinely change how you work, and the battery life makes it easier to do that away from a desk.
If you mostly browse, email and video call, this is far more Mac than you need. The touchscreen is the eye-catching bit, but it’s not a reason on its own to spend nearly three thousand dollars or pounds.
If you’re tempted, Apple Trade In will give you credit for your current computer – check what it’s worth at apple.com/shop/trade-in. In the US, you can also lease one through Apple Upgrade from $55.99 a month over 36 months, or spread the cost interest-free with Apple Card Monthly Installments; neither is available in the UK. New Mac buyers also get three months of Apple Creator Studio free.
The 14-inch model starts from $2,899 (£2,899) and the 16-inch from $3,399 (£3,399), both with the M5 Pro chip; M5 Max models start from $4,499 (£4,499). Pre-orders open today, 28 October, on apple.com and in the Apple Store app, with deliveries and in-store availability from Friday 6 November in both the US and the UK.