Apple's first touchscreen MacBook Pro may start at $2,899, Bloomberg reports

The report said that if Apple applies a similar premium to the 16-inch model, it would cost at least $3,399. Before Apple’s June price increases, the 14-inch and 16-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro models started at $2,199 and $2,699, respectively, so the reported new prices would represent an increase of at least $700 in four months. At $2,899, the 14-inch model would surpass the $2,799 starting price of the 17-inch MacBook Pro Apple introduced in 2006, the report said. The pricing would also put Apple alongside Dell Technologies Inc. among the most expensive makers of OLED touch-screen laptops.

Gurman reported that Apple plans to keep selling the non-touch versions alongside the new machines. The OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro models are expected to sit at the top of Apple’s current laptop lineup rather than replace the existing M5 Pro and M5 Max models, he said. Buyers who want the redesigned hardware will likely have to pay the premium whether or not they want a touchscreen, according to the report.

The new models are expected to include OLED displays, Dynamic Island, a slightly thinner design, thinner bezels, a noticeably lighter body, and a redesigned hinge intended to prevent the screen from moving when it is touched. Gurman also reported that Apple has reworked the cooling system to improve airflow through the hinge while helping reduce the computers’ weight.

The report offered new details about how Apple decided to bring touchscreens to the Mac. According to people familiar with the decision, Tim Cook greenlit the touchscreen MacBook Pro project about four years ago, in part because the feature had become one of the most requested by Apple customers. “He said we should just do it,” a person with knowledge of the decision told Bloomberg. Ternus oversaw development of the new models, according to the report, and believed Apple had fallen behind in the area and that touch screens had become table stakes for laptops, making it time for the company to embrace the technology.

Apple plans to open preorders for the new touchscreen MacBook Pro models on Oct. 28, with availability potentially beginning as early as Nov. 6, alongside new M6-powered Macs announced on Oct. 27, according to the report.