Apple has added touchscreen technology to its MacBook Pro lineup, with a new range featuring OLED displays, M5 Pro and M5 Max processors, and a hefty price tag. 

Ending years of Apple resistance to touchscreen laptops, the newly announced MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR display is available in 14.2-inch and 16.3-inch configurations. It brings multi-touch input to Apple’s flagship professional laptop for the first time.

The displays use tandem OLED technology, delivering a claimed peak brightness of 2,000 nits, a 120Hz ProMotion adaptive refresh rate and support for both P3 and Adobe RGB colour gamuts. Apple has also introduced the Dynamic Island interface, familiar from its iPhone range, and revived the illuminated Apple logo on the laptop lid.

However, the upgrade does not introduce a new processor generation. Both sizes use Apple’s existing M5 Pro or M5 Max chipsets, with the company focusing on the display and interaction changes rather than a major performance overhaul.

Australian pricing starts at $4,599 for the 14-inch and $5,499 for the 16-inch version which places the touchscreen MacBook Pro firmly in the premium end of the notebook market.

The pricing raises questions about whether touchscreen functionality alone will be enough to persuade existing MacBook Pro owners to upgrade, particularly when conventional MacBook Pro models remain available without touch input.

Apple is targeting professional users, including designers, photographers and content creators, who may benefit from directly manipulating images, video timelines and other visual elements. The combination of OLED contrast, colour accuracy and touch controls could also appeal to users accustomed to working on tablets and smartphones.

The move brings Apple closer to Windows notebook manufacturers, which have offered touchscreen laptops for years. Research cited by Reuters found that 33.4 million touchscreen notebooks shipped globally in 2025, with an average selling price of around US$1,009.

The new models While the new launch is a significant shift in Mac design for Apple, the models do keep the MacBook Pro’s conventional keyboard and trackpad.

Pre-orders opened on 28 October, with general retail availability scheduled for 6 November.