New Delhi: Apple has long claimed that users don’t touch their laptop screens, and that claim appears to be accurate. It changed its mind on Wednesday.
The company launched new redesigned 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with touch input for the Mac. Pre-orders opened October 28, and the machines start arriving Friday, November 6.
According to Apple, the touch sensor is integrated into the display panel, instead of being added to the top, thus reducing the latency. Swiping, pinch-to-zoom and drag-and-drop work the way they do on an iPad. Many of the current applications should support the touch automatically, according to Apple, but a few third-party applications, such as Adobe Lightroom, Blender and DaVinci Resolve, are because of to appear later. The company emphasizes that the keyboard and track pad won’t be getting rid of.
The screen is the bigger hardware change. Apple calls it PROLED XDR, a tandem OLED panel rated for up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness and a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio. It covers both P3 and Adobe RGB color spaces. Apple also brings the iPhone’s Dynamic Island to the Mac, where it will host Spotlight, Live Activities and Siri AI.
“The new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display is a monumental step forward for the Mac,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer.
Inside are the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with up to 128GB of unified memory and storage configurable to 16TB. Apple claims up to 24 hours of battery life, a figure based on its own September testing. The company didn’t publish the test details in the announcement, so independent numbers will matter.
The laptops are also lighter. The 14-inch model drops to 3 pounds, and the 16-inch to 4 pounds, which Apple says is 0.7 pounds less than before. Both are a bit thinner as well.
Pricing starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch with M5 Pro and $3,399 for the 16-inch. The M5 Max versions begin at $4,499 and $4,799. Education buyers get discounts of $150 to $300. Apple is also offering leases from $55.99 a month over 36 months.
That’s not cheap, and it’s worth noting that “starting at” prices apply to base configurations. Anyone who wants the 16TB drive or the nano-texture glass option should expect the total to climb.
Early reaction on social media has leaned positive, but those posts aren’t a substitute for proper reviews, and the performance and battery claims come from Apple itself. The old objection to vertical touchscreens, that holding your arm up to a laptop display gets tiring, hasn’t been answered yet. Apple hasn’t said how it plans to deal with it beyond a redesigned hinge it says is more stable for touch use.
