Apple has launched an entirely new version of the MacBook Pro, its first-ever touchscreen Mac, after years of saying that it would never make one.
The new computer not only brings the ability to touch the screen for the first time, but is dramatically lighter as well as bringing back the iconic glowing Apple logo on the back of the MacBook.
All of those new features and changes are enabled by a new screen technology that Apple calls PROLED XDR. That is Apple’s branding for the OLED display, technology that has featured on its iPads and iPhones, but never on a MacBook.
The display allows for more vivid colours, blacker blacks and better contrast, Apple said. But the technology also allowed it to reduce the weight – to three pounds, compared to around 3.5 pounds for the previous version – as well as bringing back the glowing logo.
It also adds the Dynamic Island from the iPhone, where the camera and other sensors are found. That replaces the notch that has sat at the top of the display of recent Macs, and replaces it with a much smaller, pill-shaped cutout that can be used to show other information.
In advance of the release, as the touchscreen Mac was rumoured, many reports focused on that new technology and significant change that it brought to Apple’s laptop line. But Apple appeared to stress the benefits of its new OLED display more than the touchscreen feature, stressing its brightness, contrast and colours.
The company had to make a number of other changes to allow for the introduction of touch. They include redesigning the MacOS software so that users can more easily manipulate their content, as well as strengthening the hinge in the laptop so that it does not bounce around when users are actually touching the screen.
The introduction of touch will allow users to more easily do normal actions such as moving windows around, scrolling, and placing content, Apple said. But it suggested it would also open up new ways of interacting with the Mac entirely, such as letting artists draw on it, musicians play software instruments with the screen, and allowing developers to test their apps as if they were being used on an iPhone or iPad.
Apple has long been rumoured to be working on a touchscreen version of the Mac. That is despite the fact that many of its executives, including new chief executive John Ternus, have previously dismissed the idea – primarily because of the ergonomic troubles of reaching out across the keyboard to touch the display.
Recent reports have suggested that Apple has come around to the idea, in part because of confidence that it would not challenge sales of the iPad. It comes amid a broader push into new kinds of formats for its devices, including a new foldable phone and display for the home.
Many other companies have long offered touchscreen laptops. But Apple’s hardware chief Johny Srouji suggested there was “nothing else like” the new computer, because of its “deep integration between Apple silicon, hardware, and software”.
The new touchable laptop – officially known as the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display – starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch version, and $3,399 for the 16-inch. That is compared with a starting price of $1,999 for the non-touchscreen version, though that also includes a less powerful chip.
Pre-orders are open now, and the new MacBook will go on sale on Friday, 6 November.
The announcement comes at the end of a busy week, which has also seen Apple introduce a new iPad Mini, as well as updated iMacs and lower-end MacBook Pro models. October had already seen the launch of a new HomeView smart display for people’s houses, as well as the release of the iPhone Duo.
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