Apple’s new MacBook Pro introduces an OLED touchscreen.
Apple adds touch controls and lighter bodies to its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models while retaining their ports, keyboard and trackpad.
Apple has unveiled its first touchscreen MacBook Pro at its “Pro and Tell” event in Los Angeles. The redesign introduces an OLED display and a thinner, lighter body while keeping familiar controls.
The new models retain the 14-inch and 16-inch screen sizes, alongside the existing selection of ports. However, they carry a $400 premium over their non-OLED counterparts.
Touchscreen MacBook Pro adds familiar gestures
Apple calls the new laptop the “MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display”. Its screen brings touch input to tasks previously handled through the keyboard and trackpad.
Users can swipe through photographs, pan and zoom with two fingers, or draw in apps such as Pixelmator. They can also adjust editing sliders directly on the screen in Photos.
Meanwhile, familiar trackpad gestures extend to the display. A three-finger swipe moves between full-screen apps, while users can flick windows towards different sides to arrange their workspace.
Despite those additions, the macOS interface remains largely unchanged. The window-management buttons in the top-left corner expand slightly when touched, rather than adopting a substantially different layout.
Touch therefore adds another way to control the computer without replacing its established input options. The keyboard and trackpad retain the familiar design used since the major 2021 MacBook Pro redesign.
Lighter bodies keep the existing ports
The 14-inch model weighs three pounds, while the larger 16-inch version weighs four pounds. Both retain the existing port selection despite the reduction in size and weight.
Apple previously brought the MacBook Pro down to similar weights with its 2016 Touch Bar models. However, those Intel-powered machines struggled with cooling and performance under heavy workloads.
The latest redesign’s sustained performance under demanding workloads still requires more extensive testing. Lower weight alone does not establish how the new laptops will handle prolonged intensive use.
OLED screen comes at a premium
The OLED panel adds deeper blacks, following Apple’s introduction of a tandem OLED screen on the 2024 iPad Pro. The display upgrade also benefits users who prefer the keyboard and trackpad to touch controls.
Alongside the screen and body changes, Apple has brought back the illuminated logo on the lid. The redesign pairs those visible changes with the familiar MacBook Pro layout, at a higher price than the non-OLED versions.
