Apple just announced its first ever MacBook with a touchscreen
By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN
(CNN) — Apple once scoffed at the idea of a laptop with a touchscreen.
But that all changed on Wednesday when the tech giant announced the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, its first laptop with a touch-sensitive display.
For years, PC makers have been releasing touchscreen computers in an attempt to modernize laptops for the mobile era. Apple is late to the game, but is betting its touchscreen laptop will appeal to the MacBook Pro’s core audience of creative professionals and app developers.
Today’s announcement marks the latest in a blitz of new Apple products to launch during John Ternus’ first two months as the company’s CEO. The touchscreen MacBook – along with other Apple firsts like the iPhone Duo and HomeView home hub – will test whether Apple can still develop hit products that anticipate users’ needs.
Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook
The new touchscreen MacBook Pro, which launches on November 6, will come in 14-inch and 16-inch versions and runs on Apple’s M5 Pro or M5 Max chips. The smaller model starts at $2,899, the bigger at $3,399.
Apple is touting the touchscreen as being useful for dragging and dropping slides between presentations, allowing developers to directly test on their computers how their apps work. It also highlighted its usefulness for graphic designers and musicians, saying they’ll be able to draw sketches and play virtual instruments with just a touch of the screen.
The company also claims many existing apps will work with the touchscreen right away because the software will register touches as clicks.
The Dynamic Island, or the pill-shaped carveout topping iPhone screens with information and the front camera, will also be included on the new laptop. The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display also includes additions aimed at creatives, like higher peak brightness than non-touch versions and Adobe’s RGB color space.
The company says the touch sensor is built into the display itself rather than layered on top of it, which it claims will reduce latency when swiping and scrolling.
Struggles of early touchscreen laptops
Touchscreen laptops have existed for more than a decade. Microsoft made a major push to shift the industry in this direction with the release of Windows 8 in 2012. That software featured a new design with larger tile-shaped icons meant to resemble phones and tablets. However, it was widely panned because the operating system was confusing to navigate.
The hardware also needed work; early touchscreen laptops were clunky, expensive and awkward to use as tablets. PC makers struggled to keep pace with the rise of smartphones and tablets.
“Our competition is different, they’re confused,” Tim Cook, Apple’s then-CEO who is now executive chair of its board of directors, said during a 2013 event. He said rival laptop makers were trying to “make PCs into tablets and tablets into PCs. Who knows what they will do next?”
Despite those early gripes, touchscreen laptops have improved over the years thanks to lower component costs, lighter designs and enhancements to Windows. They’re widely available from major PC makers like Dell and Lenovo.
Even Apple, which previously criticized hybrid computers, has been inching in its products in this direction for years. It overhauled the iPad’s software in 2019 with more productivity features, like the ability to use more than one app at once. It’s also made its Mac software look more like the iPhone’s by incorporating elements like the control panel for managing settings and the Liquid Glass translucent design for app icons.
Yet touchscreen devices only accounted for 16.3% of global laptop shipments in 2025, according to market research from the International Data Corporation. That’s largely because touchscreens aren’t popular with commercial buyers since most workers just plug their laptop into a monitor when they’re at their desk, according to Ryan Reith, group vice president for the IDC.
Apple previously tried incorporating touch technology into the MacBook Pro in 2016 with the introduction of the Touch Bar, a touch-sensitive strip located above the keyboard for accessing app controls and other shortcuts. But it largely flopped with consumers because its utility didn’t justify the additional cost.
Apple’s next era
Apple is known for being late to technologies – usually for good reason. It wasn’t the first company to launch MP3 players, tablets or smartwatches, but it made those products popular with consumers by making its devices simpler and easier to use.
The touchscreen MacBook Pro is the latest of several recent examples to follow this playbook. The company introduced its HomeView smart home hub earlier this month, attempting to challenge Amazon’s dominance in the smart home industry. And last week, Apple’s first foldable iPhone went on sale, debuting long after chief rival Samsung established a lead in that market.
Apple has long faced pressure to come up with new blockbuster products, especially given Ternus’s background in hardware compared to Cook’s operations expertise. Wall Street will be watching for signs of how Apple’s new products are being received on the company’s earnings call next week, especially following reports of broken iPhone Duo screens.
Still, some analysts think Apple’s new laptop will raise the bar for Windows rivals.
“Apple’s entry will not dramatically change the PC market, but it will change the status of touch-enabled laptops,” Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst covering mobile devices and computers, said in an email following Apple’s announcement.
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