Apple Finally Caves On Touchscreens With Gorgeous New OLED MacBook Pro
Apple never released a Mac with a touchscreen display when Steve Jobs was in charge, and still resisted during Tim Cook's tenure as CEO, choosing instead to focus on a clear delineation between the company's MacBook and iPad families. It took John Ternus, who replaced Cook as CEO in September, just a handful of weeks to flip the script with a refreshed MacBook Pro touting a touch display for the first time on any Mac product.
Dubbed the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, the new machine comes in 14.2-inch (3024x1968) and 16.3-inch (3472x2266) form factors, both powered by Apple's M5 Pro and M5 Max silicon. The refreshed MacBook Pro also introduces a Dynamic Island to the Mac, replacing the familiar camera notch with an interactive area for notifications and other activities.
We’re glowing with excitement over the new MacBook Pro. You’ve gotta touch it to believe it. https://t.co/BLiGkGaefL
— John Ternus (@johnternus) October 28, 2026
To be fair, this "groundbreaking MacBook Pro" was being designed long before Ternus stepped into the role of CEO, so Cook deserves a bit of credit for helping to break Apple's stubborn resistance to touch displays on a laptop. Regardless, it's finally arrived and is likely to prove popular.
Beyond touch support, Apple's new PROLED XDR display packs some impressive specs. It employs a pair of self-illuminating OLED layers to deliver deep blacks and bright highlights, with Apple claiming a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1.
Meanwhile, peak brightness is rated at 2,000 nits for both HDR and SDR content, while sustained full-screen brightness tops out at a still eye-searing 1,000 nits. It also features ProMotion tech to deliver variable refresh rates from 10Hz up to 120Hz. All combined, it amounts to a "monumental step forward for the Mac," according to Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer.
"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," Srouji said in a statement.
Beyond the OLED display with touch support, the refreshed MacBook Pro leverages Apple's M5 Pro and M5 Max chips with up to an 18-core CPU and 40-core GPU instead of the company's newer M6 silicon that powers the new non-touch 14-inch MacBook Pro, as Apple hasn't released Pro and Max variants for the M6 yet. Baseline configurations also start at 24GB of unified memory and 1TB of solid state drive (SSD) storage, though buyers with deep pockets can select up to 128GB of RAM and up to 16TB of storage.
Other notable specs include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 wireless connectivity, three Thunderbolt 5 ports, an HDMI output, an SDXC card reader, MagSafe support, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. And as for battery life, Apple claims users can net up to 24 hours, with fast-charge support to bring a depleted battery to a 50% charge in 30 minutes.
