Apple launches MacBook Pro with touch and tandem OLED display

Apple announced a new MacBook Pro on October 28 with what it calls the PROLED XDR Display, a tandem OLED panel. The 14- and 16-inch models bring touch input to the Mac for the first time and move to M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. Pre-orders are open now, and the laptops arrive in stores and at customers’ homes on Friday, November 6.

Display, touch and design

Apple lists up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR and SDR brightness, a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a 120Hz variable refresh rate. The panel covers both the P3 and Adobe RGB color gamuts. Engadget adds that Apple cites 80 percent coverage of Rec.2020, and that the nano-texture glass option is now etched into the cover glass.

macOS translates touches into clicks, so many existing apps work with the touchscreen right away. Apple also updated its system gesture APIs for developers. It names Notion, Canva, Zoom, Microsoft Office apps, Adobe Lightroom, DaVinci Resolve, Blender, Cinema 4D, ZBrush, Shapr3D and djay Pro among the third-party apps that will use Touch, and says the listed apps arrive later this year. The Dynamic Island, borrowed from the iPhone, now hosts Spotlight, Live Activities and Siri AI.

Other specs from Apple:

• Chips: M5 Pro and M5 Max, with up to 128GB of unified memory and up to 16TB of storage
• Battery: up to 24 hours, in designs of 3 and 4 pounds
• Ports: three Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SDXC card slot, MagSafe and a headphone jack
• Other: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Touch ID, a 12MP Center Stage camera and a six-speaker system
• Software: macOS 27 with Apple Intelligence and Siri AI

Pricing and availability

The 14-inch model with M5 Pro starts at $2,899 and the 16-inch at $3,399. With M5 Max, the 14-inch starts at $4,499 and the 16-inch at $4,799. Education pricing takes $150 to $300 off those prices. Pre-orders run through apple.com and the Apple Store app in 30 countries and regions.

Apple Creator Studio updates with Touch support for Pixelmator Pro, Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro arrive on the App Store in November. They are free for existing subscribers. New subscribers pay $12.99 a month or $129 a year.

Why it matters

Touch input has been absent from the Mac until now, and Apple is pairing it with a switch from the Mini LED panel in current models to OLED. Engadget notes the new peak HDR brightness of 2,000 nits compares with 1,600 nits on the current Mini LED models. It calls that very high for an OLED laptop display and says it is at least as bright as any other OLED laptop on the market, if Apple’s figure holds up.

Engadget also says tandem OLED, which Apple first used in the M4 iPad Pro, offers lower burn-in risk and a longer panel lifespan than a single-layer design. Apple says its display engine adjusts each pixel for age and usage to counter organic pixel degradation. Engadget puts the new base price $400 higher than before and judges the touch display probably not worth it for most buyers, though tempting for people who make money creating content.

What we don’t know yet

Engadget reports that an Apple graphic suggests a triangular pixel arrangement rather than a striped RGB layout, which can give sharper text. It has asked Apple for clarification. Siri AI is in beta in macOS 27.2 and works in English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. Apple says Spotlight only moves to the Dynamic Island when Siri AI is available and enabled.