Apple finally adds touchscreen to MacBook Pro, prices start at Rs 3,49,900 in India
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Apple has done what it resisted for years: launched a MacBook with a touchscreen. The new MacBook Pro, available in 14-inch and 16-inch variants, is the company’s first Mac laptop to support direct touch input.
Users can now scroll web pages with a swipe, pinch to zoom into photos, or drag slides between presentations using their fingers. In India, the 14-inch model with the M5 Pro chip is priced from Rs 3,49,900, while the 16-inch version starts at Rs 4,09,900. Pre-orders are open, with sales beginning November 6.
Apple’s chief hardware officer, Johny Srouji, described the addition as “a monumental step forward for the Mac.”
The touchscreen is integrated into the display panel rather than added as a separate layer. Apple says this reduces lag and creates the feeling of interacting directly with on-screen content. The company said designers can draw across the full display, musicians can play software instruments, and developers can test iPhone and iPad apps directly on the laptop.
Several popular applications, including Microsoft Office, Zoom, Adobe Lightroom and Blender, are adding dedicated touch support, while many existing apps are expected to work with touch immediately.
The new MacBook Pro also features a PROLED XDR display built on tandem OLED technology, which uses two light-emitting layers. Apple claims peak brightness of 2,000 nits and a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1.
The Dynamic Island, previously seen on iPhones, has now arrived on the Mac. The pill-shaped area at the top of the display can show search results, live updates and Siri interactions.
Apple has also made the laptops lighter. The 14-inch model weighs about 1.36 kg, roughly 230 grams less than its predecessor, while the 16-inch version weighs about 1.81 kg, around 320 grams lighter. Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours.
The laptops are powered by M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with configurations offering up to 128GB of unified memory and 16TB of storage. Apple said the hardware can run large artificial intelligence models directly on the device.
Touchscreen and OLED displays have been available on Windows laptops for years, with some models priced just above Rs 60,000, while several Chromebooks cost under Rs 25,000. The new touchscreen MacBook Pro is about Rs 1,00,000 costlier than the 14-inch model launched in March and Rs 1,10,000 more than the entry-level 16-inch MacBook Pro.
For buyers who do not need the touchscreen, Apple has also introduced a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip at Rs 2,39,900. That model retains the earlier Liquid Retina XDR display.