Apple has unveiled a redesigned MacBook Pro featuring a touchscreen display, its new M5 Pro and M5 Max processors, and advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, marking a significant shift in the company’s approach to its professional laptops.
Announced on October 28, the new MacBook Pro introduces tandem OLED technology under Apple’s PROLED XDR branding, together with touchscreen functionality for the first time on a Mac. The device is available in 14-inch and 16-inch models.
The display delivers peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits, a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1 and an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Support for both P3 and Adobe RGB colour spaces also targets professionals working in photography, video production, graphic design and other colour-sensitive fields.
The touchscreen allows users to navigate applications, zoom into images, manipulate digital content and interact directly with creative tools. Musicians can play virtual instruments on the screen, while video editors can arrange clips and adjust timelines using touch gestures.
As the company explained, the touchscreen works alongside the traditional keyboard and trackpad, rather than replacing them. A redesigned hinge provides additional stability during touch interactions.
Apple has also introduced the Dynamic Island interface to the Mac, bringing Spotlight search, Live Activities and Siri AI into a single interactive area. The feature is designed to give users quick access to notifications, music controls, search functions and other system activities.
The new laptops run on Apple’s M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, which are designed to handle demanding computing tasks, including software development, advanced graphics, scientific simulations and high-resolution video editing.
The processors incorporate Neural Accelerators in their GPU cores to speed up artificial intelligence workloads. Apple said the M5 Max can run large language models with hundreds of billions of parameters locally, potentially reducing dependence on cloud-based AI processing for compatible tasks.
The laptops also integrate Apple Intelligence features into macOS 27, enabling users to search across personal content, interact with applications and perform certain tasks through Siri AI.
Other improvements include up to 128GB of unified memory, configurable storage of up to 16TB and battery life of up to 24 hours, depending on the model and usage.
Interestingly, despite the increased capabilities, Apple has reduced the devices’ weight. The 14-inch model weighs approximately three pounds, while the 16-inch version weighs four pounds.
Connectivity options include Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, MagSafe charging, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The laptops can support up to three external displays with the M5 Pro chip and four with the M5 Max.
The technology giant has also upgraded the six-speaker audio system, promising 50 per cent deeper bass, while retaining features such as a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera and studio-quality microphones.
Beyond general productivity, the new MacBook Pro introduces display calibration tools and reference modes intended for professional video production, photography, print design and certain medical imaging applications. Apple clarified that its medical imaging presets are intended for non-diagnostic review, research and educational purposes.
The company stated that the device contains 55 per cent recycled material by weight, including recycled aluminium in its enclosure and recycled cobalt in its battery. Manufacturing also incorporates renewable electricity across the supply chain.
