Apple announces new MacBook Pro models with OLED and touchscreen

Apple today announced a new series of MacBook Pro models that will sell alongside the existing range. The new models feature the long awaited OLED displays and also bring touchscreen support to the Mac for the first time.

The main feature here is the display, which Apple calls PROLED XDR. The new display features the same Tandem OLED technology that we saw on the iPad Pro models, which layers two OLED panels over each other to increase their light output. The displays on the MacBook Pro are capable of up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness and 1,000 nits of sustained brightness. The panels support variable refresh rates between 10Hz and 120Hz, and offer P3 and Adobe RGB color gamut coverage.

The other new thing about the display is that Apple has brought touchscreen support to the Mac for the first time. Apple positions it more as another way to interact with your content and projects within apps rather than the only way to use the computer as macOS has not been meaningfully redesigned for touch. Notably missing is pen support, as Apple made no mention of Apple Pencil compatibility.

The final new thing about the display is that it replaces the notch with the Dynamic Island. Unfortunately, there is still no Face ID on the MacBook Pro, and Touch ID remains the only way to securely authenticate.

Apple has also made some changes to the design of these new variants compared to the standard MacBook Pro range. They are now ever so slightly smaller in every dimension by a few millimeters but notably lighter by about 200-300g depending on the model. The internal thermal design has also been reworked and now sends the warm air away from the display.

But the thing that most buyers would probably appreciate more is that the Apple logo on the back of the lid now glows like it used to on older MacBooks, which should make these MacBook Pro models stand out from the standard range.

Apple has also updated the speaker system on the new models. They feature the same six-speaker system as before but there are new woofers with 50% deeper bass as well as new tweeters. The design has also been reworked so that the speakers still sound good even if the lid is closed.

Aside from these changes, the new MacBook Pro models are similar to the existing MacBook Pro range. They offer the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips as well as the same memory and storage options, have the same connectivity features, and the same battery life. So the real difference comes down to whether you want the LCD or the OLED with touch.

The PROLED XDR range starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch model with M5 Pro and $3,399 for the 16-inch model with the M5 Pro. For M5 Max, the prices are $4,499 and $4,799, respectively. They are up for pre-order today and will be on sale November 6.

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