Apple achieved yet another milestone on Wednesday, October 28, by introducing new MacBook Pro models featuring a PROLED XDR display and touchscreen support for the first time since the lineup launched in 2006. Introducing the new MacBook Pro, Apple CEO John Ternus described the launch as a major moment for both the MacBook Pro and the Mac itself.“This is the only MacBook Pro, and yes, for the very first time, we are bringing touch to the Mac. But this display provides so much more than touch. It is our entirely new PROLED XDR display, and it is awesome,” Ternus proclaimed to an exhilarated crowd at Apple’s Pro and Tell event.The new MacBook models also bring the Dynamic Island, alongside updated AI capabilities, a redesigned thermal architecture and up to 24 hours of battery life. The company said that the new models are aimed at professionals working across video production, software development, 3D modelling, photography, and other demanding workloads.‘Tandem OLED, unlike any other Tandem OLED’Perhaps the most noticeable difference in the new MacBook Pro models is Apple’s PROLED XDR display that uses tandem OLED technology. Ternus, while introducing the new device, said that the display offers peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits and a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1, along with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120 Hz through ProMotion technology. According to the official specifications sheet, the display supports both P3 and Adobe RGB colour spaces, making it ideal for colour-sensitive applications including photography, graphic design, video editing, etc. A nano-texture glass option is available to reduce reflections and glare.Also Read | Apple launches new M6 MacBook Pro, iMac; adds AI features to Creator StudioWith the new touchscreen functionality, users can swipe through webpages, pinch to zoom into images, move presentation slides and interact directly with creative applications. Based on the demo at the event, designers can draw on the display, musicians can play software instruments on screen, while developers can test touch-based interactions in their apps. Apple said that the touchscreen complements the existing keyboard and trackpad and does not replace it in any way. When it comes to the structure, the touch sensor is integrated into the display panel to reduce latency. On the other hand, a redesigned hinge offers additional stability during touch interactions. The touch functionality greatly benefits applications such as Notion, Canva, Zoom, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe Lightroom, DaVinci Resolve, Blender, Cinema 4D, etc. Apple CEO John Ternus showcases the new MacBook Pro models at the company’s “Pro and Tell” event in Los Angeles. (Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)When it comes to design, the 14-inch model weighs around 1.36 kg, while the 16-inch version weighs approximately 1.81 kg. The slimmer design is partly owing to the more efficient OLED display structure and a redesigned thermal system. The 14-inch model retains a 14.2-inch display, while the larger model features a 16.3-inch screen. The devices also feature an upgraded six-speaker sound system with 50 per cent deeper bass, studio-quality microphones and a 12 MP Centre Stage camera. Connectivity options include three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, MagSafe charging and a headphone jack. The new models also support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.Superlative performance?The new lineup of MacBook Pros is powered by Apple’s M5 Pro and M5 Max processors, which Apple describes as its most powerful chips for a professional laptop. The chips offer improved CPU performance, faster unified memory and GPUs with enhanced shader cores and a third-generation ray-tracing engine. The hands-on experience of the laptops showcased the ease of use and fluidity in applications that showed the capabilities of the advanced chipset. According to Apple, the M5 Pro is designed for demanding workloads such as software compilation, scientific computing, AI tasks and editing multiple streams of 8K ProRes video.Story continues below this adMeanwhile, the M5 Max is meant for more intensive applications including visual effects, 3D animation, film production and AI development. The new MacBook Pro supports up to 128GB of unified memory and configurable storage of up to 16TB. The M5 Max can also run large language models with hundreds of billions of parameters entirely on the device, allowing AI workloads to be processed locally. Each GPU core also comes with a neural accelerator designed to speed up AI workloads, including apps that use on-device LLMs.Also Read | Apple introduces OLED iPad mini with A20 Pro, India price starts at Rs 82,900The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro is priced at Rs 3,49,900, and the 16-inch with M5 Pro at Rs 4,09,900. The 16-inch and 14-inch Pro models with M5 Max are priced at Rs 5,49,900 and Rs 5,89,900, respectively. Apple has also listed education pricing for eligible buyers. The 14-inch M5 Pro model starts at Rs 3,31,900, while the 16-inch M5 Pro model starts at Rs 3,85,900. The M5 Max versions start at Rs 5,12,900 for the 14-inch model and Rs 5,52,900 for the 16-inch model under the listed education pricing.Pre-orders for the new MacBook Pro begin on October 28 through Apple’s online store and the Apple Store app in select markets. Apple said that the availability will begin on November 6, with the laptops rolling out through Apple Store locations and authorised resellers. The company has not specified a separate India retail availability date in the supplied announcement.