Apple launches its first touchscreen MacBook Pro, from $2,899

Apple unveiled a redesigned MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, an OLED display and a Dynamic Island, after two decades of rejecting touch Macs. The 14-inch model starts at $2,899 and weighs 3 pounds; the 16-inch starts at $3,399. It arrives on 6 November.

Apple has unveiled a redesigned MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, ending two decades of refusing to put touch on the Mac, Bloomberg reported. It is also the first Mac with an OLED screen and a Dynamic Island, the strip at the top of iPhone displays that shows alerts and controls.

The laptop comes in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, with M5 Pro or M5 Max chips. The 14-inch model starts at $2,899 and the 16-inch at $3,399, Apple said. Pre-orders are open now, with deliveries from 6 November.

The new model is thinner and much lighter. The 14-inch version weighs 3 pounds, half a pound less than before, and the 16-inch weighs 4 pounds, while Apple promises up to 24 hours of battery life.

Apple calls the screen PROLED XDR. Its macOS interface has been reworked for touch, so users can tap, scroll and pinch to zoom, and many existing apps work with touch straight away.

Chief hardware officer Johny Srouji called it a “monumental step forward for the Mac.” New chief executive John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook last month, presented it on stage.

The launch reverses a long-held view at Apple. Steve Jobs once called touchscreen laptops “ergonomically terrible,” and Cook compared merging a laptop and a tablet to combining a fridge and a toaster. In 2016, design chief Jony Ive said a touchscreen Mac would not be useful.

Cook and Ternus began backing a touchscreen MacBook Pro about four years ago, Bloomberg reported, hoping to revive Mac sales and charge more for premium features. The model sits above the M6 MacBook Pro launched on Tuesday, which keeps a regular screen and costs from $1,999.

The launch caps a busy week for Apple, which also released a new OLED iPad mini on Monday, as part of a wider overhaul of its Mac line.