This feels like a long time coming.
A few years ago Apple dipped its toes into touch controls on the MacBook with the Touch Bar. It was a neat idea in theory, but in practice it never really found its place. There were moments where it was useful, but more often than not I found myself accidentally grazing the Escape key while writing or working, only to have it trigger an action I did not intend. It became more frustrating than helpful.
Now Apple has finally gone all in with a proper touchscreen MacBook. It feels like the natural evolution of the MacBook and iPad, bringing familiar gestures like pinching, swiping, and dragging directly to macOS. I will probably spend most of my time typing without ever touching the display, but I can already see the potential for photo editing, video timelines, design work, and other creative workflows where reaching out and interacting directly with the screen just makes sense.
The biggest story is Apple’s new PROLED XDR display. The panel delivers up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR and SDR brightness, a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio, ProMotion with a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, and support for both the P3 and Adobe RGB colour spaces. For photographers, filmmakers, designers, and other professionals who depend on accurate colour, this could be a major upgrade.
Apple has also brought Dynamic Island to the MacBook Pro, giving Spotlight, Siri AI, and Live Activities a new home, while the redesigned chassis trims weight from both the 14 inch and 16 inch models. Powering everything are the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, built for users who need serious performance for demanding creative and professional workflows.
Much like the folding iPhone Duo, Apple is rarely the first company to launch a new product category. Instead, it usually waits until it believes the experience is refined enough to feel complete. I recently watched a few tech YouTubers call Microsoft’s latest touchscreen laptop a “MacBook killer,” but I am not convinced. The overall design, size, and feel of a MacBook still set the standard that most PC manufacturers are chasing.
That being said, we have only seen the announcement. Maybe this is the rare Apple misstep. Maybe the touchscreen experience will feel unnecessary once people actually get their hands on it. I doubt it, but we will not know for sure until the new MacBook Pro hits Canadian shelves on November 6, 2026.
Until then, this looks like one of Apple’s most interesting MacBook updates in years.