Apple has unveiled its latest MacBook Pro, marking the first time its professional laptops feature a touchscreen display. The new models allow users to tap, swipe and scroll through content as they would on an iPhone or iPad.
Touchscreen and Display Upgrades
Apple has optimised its own apps for touch, and many existing applications will work with the new feature immediately. macOS automatically translates touches into clicks, making it easier to interact with content using your fingers.
The new MacBook Pro features Apple's PROLED XDR display, which the company describes as the world's best display in a pro laptop. It uses advanced tandem OLED technology to deliver more consistent brightness and greyscale across the screen, while reducing internal reflections associated with traditional OLED designs. Apple says the display delivers peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits for both HDR and SDR content, alongside more accurate colours and deeper blacks.
Reduced reflections, combined with the bright display, should also make the new MacBook Pro easier to use outdoors.
Dynamic Island and Lighter Design
The laptop now features Dynamic Island, Apple's interactive display area that provides real-time updates and quick access to important information. Users can check notifications, answer calls and control their music without interrupting what they're doing.
MacBook Pro fans will also welcome the lighter design. The 14-inch model now weighs just 3lb, around half a pound less than before. Meanwhile, the 16-inch version weighs 4lb, a reduction of 0.7lb.
Both laptops are slimmer as well, helped by OLED's more efficient display construction. The 16-inch model is almost a millimetre thinner, while the 14-inch version is half a millimetre thinner. Thinner bezels also help maximise the available screen space, with the 16-inch model offering a 16.3-inch display and the smaller version retaining its 14.2-inch screen.
Performance and Pricing
The latest MacBook Pro models feature Apple's M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, designed to deliver faster, smoother performance for demanding professional workloads. Other upgrades include improved speakers with 50% deeper bass, pro-level connectivity and Wi-Fi 7.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR display and M5 Pro starts at £2,899, while the 16-inch version starts at £3,399.
Commenting on the launch, Apple's chief hardware officer, Johny Srouji, said: “The new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display is a monumental step forward for the Mac.
“PROLED XDR is the world's best laptop display. It pairs state-of-the-art tandem OLED technology with advanced algorithms in our display engine to deliver the kind of visual fidelity pros have been dreaming of.
“And with the magic of Touch coming to MacBook Pro, combined with the game-changing performance of M5 Pro and M5 Max, we've created a whole new way for pros to interact with their content, taking their workflows to a completely new level.
“The new MacBook Pro is the result of the deep integration between Apple silicon, hardware, and software, and there's simply nothing else like it.”
