Apple releases first touchscreen MacBook Pro at $2,899

Apple has concluded a week of product launches with the arrival of its first touchscreen MacBook Pro. The event, titled 'Pro and Tell,' marked the end of a busy period for the Cupertino-based firm.

The new 14-inch laptop features a display that supports scrolling, swiping, and pinching gestures. Apple stated that the touch sensor is integrated directly into the display panel to minimize latency. The screen utilizes a tandem OLED technology with a 120Hz refresh rate and a brightness level of 2,000 nits.

The device weighs three pounds, making it lighter than previous generations of the MacBook Pro. It reintroduces an illuminated Apple logo on the lid. The model is also the first in the line to include a Dynamic Island, which displays real-time updates and integrates with Siri AI.

Pricing begins at $2,899 for the 14-inch model equipped with an M5 Pro chip. The 16-inch version starts at $3,399 with the same M5 Pro processor. Configurations with the M5 Max chip are also available. Preorders opened on Wednesday, and the laptops will be available for purchase starting November 6.

Earlier in the week, Apple updated the iPad Mini with an 8.5-inch OLED display. The tablet measures 5.4mm in thickness, and its bezels are 24 percent thinner than the previous generation. Apple introduced an 'Acoustic Display' feature that pairs woofers with the screen to improve bass response and volume.

The iPad Mini includes the A20 Pro chip and a 12-megapixel camera positioned in landscape orientation. It carries an IP67 rating for protection against water and dust. The base model with Wi-Fi only and 128GB of storage is priced at $699. It is available in midnight and starlight colors. Higher-tier 256GB and 512GB models offer a nano-texture display that reduces glare.

Apple also refreshed the standard 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip and the N1 networking chip. This update adds support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The laptop retains three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, MagSafe 3, HDMI, and an SDXC card slot. It starts at $1,999 with 16GB of memory and 1TB of storage, with shipping set for November 6.

The iMac lineup now uses the M6 chip, which Apple claims offers up to five times faster on-device AI performance compared to the M4-powered iMac. The design and port selection remain largely the same, with a maximum of four Thunderbolt ports. The M6 iMac starts at $1,499 with 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage. Preorders are open, and availability begins November 6.

On the software front, Apple added an AI chatbot to Keynote, Numbers, and Pages. The tool is built on models from Apple and OpenAI and is designed to understand document context. It can design slides in Keynote, restructure drafts in Pages, and visualize data in Numbers. Apple also introduced an AI fill feature to Pixelmator Pro and a new AI assistant to Logic Pro.