The Touchscreen MacBook Is Finally Real, And Here's How Much It Costs

Apple's MacBook Pro hasn't seen major design changes since the M1 Pro model that was released in 2021. Now, after years of speculation, the company's first touch-enabled MacBook is here, and it brings plenty of exciting changes beyond just the addition of a touchscreen. For starters, the MacBook Pro now features Tandem OLED technology, with higher peak HDR and SDR brightness levels of up to 2,000 nits.

Although the Mini LED panel that the MacBook Pro previously used was already impressive, OLED delivers deeper blacks and a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio. It's still a 120Hz variable refresh rate display, so scrolling should feel smooth — especially now that you can interact with apps and webpages using your fingers. While support for Apple Pencil is seemingly missing, Apple says the touch-enabled MacBook Pro should be more convenient for musicians who can play virtual instruments using touch and app developers who can now test iOS and iPadOS apps much more intuitively. 

Apple also highlights how the touch sensor is built into the display panel itself, instead of being layered on top, which should reduce latency. A welcome side effect of switching to OLED is that Apple has managed to make the new MacBook Pro thinner and lighter. It still comes in two sizes — a 14.2-inch and a 16.3-inch model, both featuring slimmer bezels. Pricing starts at an eye-watering $2,899 for the base 14-inch M5 Pro model and $3,399 for the 16-inch variant. The M5 Max models ask for $4,499 and $4,799, respectively.

Perhaps the one upgrade we've come to expect every year with the MacBook is a performance boost. Courtesy of the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the new MacBook Pro is unsurprisingly the most powerful laptop Apple currently sells. Although the company also announced the MacBook Pro M6, the M5 Pro and M5 Max are better suited for more demanding workflows like 3D modeling, 8K video editing, and running larger AI models locally. The M5 Pro is nearly 11 times faster than the M1 Pro, making it a solid upgrade for those coming from much older machines.

The M5 Pro chip features a 15- or 16-core CPU and a 16- or 20-core GPU, while the M5 Max offers an 18-core CPU and a 32- or 40-core GPU. Both chips have a 16-core Neural Engine and memory bandwidths of 307GB/s and 460GB/s, respectively. When maxed out with 128GB of RAM, 16TB of SSD storage, and a nano-texture glass finish, the MacBook Pro M5 Max costs a staggering $14,549.

The new MacBook Pro comes with three Thunderbolt 5 ports and supports up to four external displays with the M5 Max variant. Apple is advertising the 72.4Wh battery as a 24-hour champ, which can be topped up to 50 percent in 30 minutes using a compatible fast charger. Like the MacBook Pro M6, there's support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 here.

The MacBook Pro also has a new look thanks to the introduction of the Dynamic Island. The display cutout is now pill-shaped, and since it doesn't need to house any Face ID hardware, it is probably smaller than the iPhone's Dynamic Island — our full review will discuss once the MacBook is in hand. Authentication is still handled by Touch ID. The cutout simply accommodates a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, but since the Dynamic Island is part of the software experience, it can expand to show Live Activities. It is also where Spotlight and Siri AI emerge.

The MacBook Pro has always had one of the best speaker systems in the laptop industry, but the new model features a new woofer design that Apple says can deliver 50 percent deeper bass. The tweeters have also been updated to accommodate a wider soundstage. When the MacBook Pro is connected to an external display with its lid closed, a dedicated audio tuning profile kicks in to optimize sound when the speakers are partially covered.

Apple's recent price hikes make the new MacBook Pro considerably more expensive than its predecessor — it's actually the most expensive laptop Apple has ever sold. If your workflow demands the prowess of the M5 Pro or M5 Max, however, there is nothing quite like the MacBook Pro. If it's any consolation, at least the Apple logo on the back now glows again.