Apple announces first touchscreen MacBook Pro with macOS 27 optimizations

Apple announced the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, its first MacBook with a touchscreen, pairing it with macOS 27 Golden Gate touch optimizations and opening pre-orders for delivery beginning November 6.

The 14-inch model with M5 Pro starts at $2,899 in the U.S., while the 16-inch model with M5 Max starts at $4,799, and Apple added a $400 starting-price premium to every non-touch M5 model in the new touchscreen range. Touch comes standard on every 14.2-inch and 16.3-inch PROLED XDR model, though non-touchscreen MacBook Pros remain available.

Apple places the touch sensor inside the display panel itself instead of adding a separate layer on top, a design the company says cuts latency. Peak brightness hits 2000 nits for both HDR and SDR, and the contrast ratio reaches 10,000,000:1. The display keeps a 120Hz refresh rate with adaptive ProMotion from 10Hz to 120Hz, and the color gamut covers P3 and Adobe RGB with more than 80 percent Rec. 2020 coverage.

The 14-inch model weighs three pounds, down half a pound from before, and the 16-inch model weighs four pounds, down 0.7 pounds from before, or about 1.36kg and 1.81kg with savings of roughly 227g and 318g respectively. Apple reduced thickness by nearly a millimeter on the 16-inch model and by half a millimeter on the 14-inch model. Colors include Space Black and Silver, and the enclosure uses 100 percent recycled aluminum.

The models use M5 Pro and M5 Max chips carried over from existing non-touch MacBook Pros, with no indicated CPU/GPU performance increase over non-touch M5 configurations. Apple introduced the M5 Pro and M5 Max earlier in 2026 using third-generation 3nm manufacturing. Unified memory is configurable up to 128GB, and buyers can configure storage up to 16TB on M5 Max, an increase from the previous 8TB. Both sizes include three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The M5 Pro supports up to three external displays and the M5 Max supports up to four external displays. The camera stays a 12MP Center Stage model with Desk View and records 1080p video, with advanced video stabilization new on the camera. The six-speaker system now includes closed-lid audio tuning and delivers bass that is 50 percent deeper.

Authentication remains Touch ID, and Apple confirmed the Dynamic Island is not confirmation of Face ID or a TrueDepth camera. Apple did not mention Apple Pencil support for the new MacBook Pro, and no earlier Mac gets touch input or the Dynamic Island, with the company naming this MacBook Pro as the only machine for touch.

The device ships with macOS 27, and Apple calls the feature Touch built for macOS 27. All Macs running macOS 27 received pull to refresh in Safari and slightly larger spacing between menu bar items, while items in menu bar context menus get larger for touch. Users can perform trackpad gestures such as three-finger swipes, pinching to zoom and scrolling directly on the screen, and can reach Spotlight from the Dynamic Island, much like iPhone users access it on iOS 27.

Apple brings the Dynamic Island to the Mac, where it houses Spotlight, Live Activities and Siri AI. App developers can fully navigate the iOS simulator with touch on the new MacBook Pro. Apple says touch is an extra option that operates together with the keyboard shortcuts and trackpad gestures pros already know.

Logic Pro gains a fully Multi-Touch polyphonic keyboard together with tappable chord and drum pads onscreen. Editors can use Final Cut Pro to set ranges precisely, place clips directly and pinch to zoom into a cut, while users can manipulate their designs directly on the Pixelmator Pro canvas.

Third-party apps named with Touch support include Notion, Canva, Zoom, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Adobe Lightroom, DaVinci Resolve, Blender, Maxon Cinema 4D, Maxon ZBrush, Shapr3D and Algoriddim djay Pro. Apple said the listed third-party apps will be available later this year, so not all arrive on day one.

M5 Max lets users run large language models containing hundreds of billions of parameters without leaving the device. Siri AI arrives in beta in macOS 27.2, and Apple confirmed that Creator Studio updates are coming in November. Apple said more touch optimizations are coming to the Mac, likely at the next WWDC.

This is Apple’s first major MacBook Pro redesign in more than five years, and Apple has long debated adding a touchscreen to Mac, with former CEO Steve Jobs famously opposed to the idea. The initial launch covers 30 countries and regions, and the display uses pixel compensation to mitigate aging and burn-in, Apple said.