Steve Jobs had a pretty firm view on touchscreen laptops. “Touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical,” he’d said at a media event in 2010, arguing that reaching up to a laptop screen for long periods would leave users with tired arms. Apple stuck to that thinking for years, even as Windows laptops made touchscreens commonplace. Now, something’s shifted, and the MacBook Pro has one too. Marking the third major launch under new CEO John Ternus, Apple announced the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch at its ‘Pro and Tell’ event in Los Angeles. Apple’s new models pair touch input with a tandem OLED display and its M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with a starting price of just under Rs 3.5 lakh in India. The iPhone Duo India price doesn’t make this sound as eye-watering, or does it?
Specifications and features
The touchscreen is paired with a new tandem OLED panel, replacing the mini-LED display used on previous MacBook Pro models. Apple calls it PROLED XDR, and claims it can reach 2,000 nits of peak brightness, with a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio and an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Support for both P3 and Adobe RGB colour spaces should also make it useful for photographers, designers and video editors who need accurate colours across different workflows.
Touch is designed to sit alongside the keyboard and trackpad. That could be useful when scrubbing through a timeline in Final Cut Pro, moving clips around or making quick adjustments to a design. Musicians can also use touch-enabled controls in Logic Pro. However, the usefulness will depend on how well apps adopt the feature; for someone who spends most of the day writing or working in spreadsheets, it may not change much.
Apple has also brought Dynamic Island to the Mac, using it for Spotlight, Live Activities and Siri AI. Under the hood, the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips support up to 128GB of unified memory and 16TB of storage. Apple claims up to 24 hours of battery life, while the thinner, lighter design should make the 16-inch model easier to carry than before. The laptops also have Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, a 12MP Center Stage camera and an upgraded six-speaker system.
Price and availability
The new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display starts at Rs 3,49,900 for the 14-inch model with M5 Pro, rising to Rs 4,09,900 for the 16-inch version. With education savings, the prices drop to Rs 3,31,900 and Rs 3,85,900, respectively.
The M5 Max variants are priced at Rs 5,49,900 for the 14-inch model and Rs 5,89,900 for the 16-inch model. Education pricing brings these down to Rs 5,12,900 and Rs 5,52,900, respectively.
Apple’s accessories are sold separately, with the 70W power adapter priced at Rs 5,800, the 96W adapter at Rs 8,900 and the 140W adapter at Rs 11,900. The World Travel Adapter Kit costs Rs 4,900.
Pre-orders opened on October 28th, with availability beginning November 6th.
Touchscreens are hardly new in this segment. Windows laptops from HP, Lenovo and ASUS offer the feature at much lower prices, while Samsung’s Galaxy Book6 series includes touchscreen options too. Apple seems to be betting that the combination of its OLED display, performance and macOS integration will be worth the premium.
For video editors, designers and 3D artists, the display and direct controls could make a difference. Everyone else may be better off with an existing MacBook Pro or a cheaper touchscreen Windows laptop. The feature is new to the Mac, but if that alone makes it worth spending upwards of Rs 3.5 lakh, is for you to decide.
