Apple Newsroom:

Apple today introduced the all-new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, featuring breakthrough tandem OLED technology that delivers game-changing front-of-screen performance. Available in 14- and 16-inch models, MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display offers a visual experience unlike any other, transforming pro workflows with up to 2000 nits peak HDR and SDR brightness, an industry-leading 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio for exceptional detail, a 120Hz variable refresh rate, and a wider color gamut covering both P3 and Adobe RGB for brilliant colors. The new MacBook Pro also introduces intuitive Touch capabilities on the Mac for the first time, opening up a whole new dimension for pros to interact with their content, from manipulating 3D models to playing musical instruments onscreen. The Dynamic Island now comes to Mac, serving as the home for Spotlight, Live Activities, and Siri AI.

This is a momentous occasion for any MacBook Pro buyer. The new model has changed a lot:

  • A new organic-LED display;
  • Dynamic Island and Live Activities;
  • a touchscreen for the first time on the Mac;
  • a glowing Apple logo after its removal almost exactly a decade ago;
  • a thinner and lighter chassis due to the OLED display;
  • and higher starting prices

Ironically, the one thing that hasn’t changed in this new model is the processor: they’re still using the M5 Pro and M5 Max processors from last year, just as expected. And presumably because of this, the new models ship just a little over a week out from Wednesday, on November 6.

Almost everything about this computer is universally positive, aside from the ridiculous name and starting prices. The glowing Apple logo was one of those signature Mac features that should never have been removed, but alas, was axed due to backlight constraints on the post-2016 MacBook Pros. It should have been brought back in 2021, when the MacBook Pro was last redesigned, but I’m glad to see it’s here. The notch, similarly, has tainted the latest MacBook Pro redesign since its introduction. It behaves terribly with the Menu Bar, so much so that it has even called into question whether Apple employees use the Menu Bar at all to begin with. The new model introduces a compact Dynamic Island, finally addressing this regression. And Apple’s Tandem OLED displays are the most gorgeous on the market — it is impossible to find a more beautiful display panel on any other consumer product.

I have always been hesitant about touchscreens coming to macOS. While I agree that the market has seemed to have made up its mind about touchscreens on desktop operating systems, I just disagree with their premise, and I’m thankful that there is a setting to turn it off in macOS. Steve Jobs long argued that touchscreens were the incorrect input method for desktop operating systems, an opinion later carried forward by his successors, including John Ternus, Apple’s current and new chief executive. I don’t think that opinion has ever eroded internally, but rather, Apple determined that the lack of a touchscreen was indeed negatively impacting sales, or at least dissuading longtime Windows laptop users from switching to the Mac.

Whatever the reason may be, the touchscreen Mac is here to stay, and in a few years, it will obviously come to the MacBook Air and low-end MacBook Pro[^1]. Apple is piloting it on its most expensive computer because that is the only model it can comfortably raise prices on. And indeed, prices have gone up by at least $400 across the board, making these new MacBook Pros objectively a bad value. But people in the market for the best MacBook Pro will buy it anyway, despite carrying last year’s processor. You could not say the same for the MacBook Air market — a price increase of $400 on that model is unacceptable. So, yes, the people buying a MacBook Pro are the least likely to care about the touchscreen, but they’re also the least-sensitive market to price increases.

That’s also why there’s a setting to disable the touchscreen: it just gets in the way of doing real work on the Mac. macOS, from its conception, has been designed around fine, indirect input. First the mouse, then the trackpad. The mouse cursor is the finest, most precise input method — it narrows down to a pixel. Fingers are large, and so to ensure people can use macOS with their hands, the system widens margins and increases spacing between controls when a person begins touching the display. When they use the mouse again, controls return to their default size. Not only does this place an incredible burden on app developers, but it cheapens the experience for both users. Photoshop on the iPad, despite the iPad for six years offering a fine input method, is still not fully featured compared to the desktop version. The iPad cursor itself is nonstandard — it morphs around buttons and controls to reduce the amount of swiping around.

The Mac cannot have these considerations. Redesigning the cursor on macOS is an absurd proposition, and developers will not offer worse versions of their apps. The touchscreen is mediocre for people who expect it, and inconveniences both app developers and people with no interest in touch controls. I touch my computer to point at things — I never want it to change its user interface when I touch it. User interface controls like the Dock, toolbars, and sidebars should be static. The point of those surfaces is that they never change, unlike the main content. People have toolbar items and icons committed to muscle memory because they’ve been there for that long. On the Mac, people meticulously position their windows and controls on their display. The operating system, under no circumstances, should modify those selections. But if it doesn’t, the touchscreen experience becomes miserable.

Only time will tell if I’m right about this, but I have a hunch that I am. I’m truly excited to buy a new MacBook Pro — one that glows! — again, but I have my reservations about the touchscreen.

An update was made on October 28, 2026, at 3:38 p.m.: An earlier version of this article stated that it was unconfirmed whether the new MacBook Pro has an option to disable the touchscreen. Federico Viticci, editor in chief of MacStories, has confirmed that there is.