Apple’s new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display: 5 top features
Macworld ·
Macworld Apple on Wednesday announced the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, a new luxury addition to the high end of its MacBook lineup. Available in 14- and 16-inch models, the base price starts at $2,899/£2,899 and $3,399/£3,399, respectively. That’s $400 more than the comparable non-OLED models. The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display reimagines the MacBook Pro with several features that appeal to the most demanding users. Here are the top features of the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display. Touchscreen input The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display is Apple’s first touchscreen Mac. Now, users can tap on the screen in addition to typing on the keyboard and using the built-in trackpad. The touchscreen is in addition to these traditional input methods; it doesn’t replace them. Users can use touch gestures that are familiar: scrolling can be done with swiping, pinch to zoom, double-tap a window to fill the screen, and more. Apple built the touch sensor directly into the display panel so latency is minimized. Apple The key to a successful touchscreen experience is accommodating software, and Apple has made several touch enhancements throughout macOS 27 Golden Gate. For example, Safari tabs “lift” and then enlarge as you drag it to a new location, then go back to their original size when dropped, and buttons enlarge when it sense your fingers on the screen. Apple has also made system gesture APIS available so developers can configure their software for touch. OLED display The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display is also the first MacBook to feature a tandem OLED display. Two OLED panels are stacked together to provide an overall improved screen experience. Apple first introduced tandem OLEDs in the 2024 iPad Pro . Apple Marketed by Apple as an Ultra Retina XDR display, tandem OLEDs produce deeper blacks, more contrast, and better colors. Apple rates the MacBook Studio’s XDR brightness at 1,000 nits sustained full-screen, 2,000 nits peak for HDR content only, and an SDR brightness up to 1,000 nits sustained full-screen, 2,000 nits peak. That’s a big improvement over the mini-LED models Apple calls the display a “portable reference monitor,” a statement targeted at professionals who demand color accuracy. The laptop’s display engine controls color and luminance at the sub-millisecond level for content, pixel use, temperature, and environment. With support for ProMotion, the display supports variable refresh rates up to 120Hz. The new genlock feature syncs the display’s refresh rate with a connected camera’s capture rate. Apple has also made structural improvements for touch input. A new hinge will provide better stability, and video stabilization is used to smooth the camera feed when using touch on a video call. Dynamic Island The new pill-shaped Dynamic Island is on the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, replacing the notch on the MacBook Pro. It acts just like it does on the iPhone, serving as a central area for Live Activities, notifications, controls, and other UI elements. Apple On the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, the Dynamic Island is the anchor point for Spotlight and Siri AI. When activating those features, the text window for user input opens under the pill box. Thinner and lighter design Apple has made the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display smaller than its MacBook Pro counterparts. At 3 pounds (1.4 kg), the 14-inch model is a half-pound (.2 kg) lighter; the 16-inch model weighs 4 pounds (1.82 kg) and is .6 pounds (.31 kg) lighter. Here are how the dimensions compare. 14-inch models MacBook Pro MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display Height 0.61 inch (1.55 cm) 0.59 inch (1.50 cm) Width 12.31 inches (31.26 cm) 12.24 inches (31.08 cm) Depth 8.71 inches (22.12 cm) 8.52 inches (21.63 cm) 16-inch models MacBook Pro MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display Height 0.66 inch (1.68 cm) 0.63 inch (1.60 cm) Width 14.01 inches (35.57 cm) 14.0 inches (35.55 cm) Depth 9.77 inches (24.81 cm) 9.62 inches (24.42 cm) The design also features the triumphant return of the glowing Apple logo on the lid. Introduced on the PowerBook G3 in 1999, the glowing Apple was replaced when Apple introduced the 12-inch MacBook in 2015. In 2016, Apple replaced it on the MacBook Pro. M5 Pro and M5 Max chips Like the MacBook Pro (which are not replaced by the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and remains in Apple’s lineup), the new laptop comes with either an M5 Pro or M5 Max chip. The M5 Max is Apple’s fastest chip in a laptop, beating the previous fastest laptop chip, the M4 Max, by about 12 percent in multi-core CPU and 7 percent in single-core CPU Geekbench 7 tests. Apple current fastest chip overall is the M5 Ultra, but its cooling requirements restrict it to the desktop Mac Studio . CPU, GPU, and RAM configurations: 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display 15-core CPU, 16-core GPU starts with 24GB of RAM, upgradeable to 48GB 18-core CPU, 20-core GPU starts with 24GB of RAM, upgradeable to 48GB or 64GB 14-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display 18-core CPU, 32-core GPU has 36GB 18-core CPU, 40-core GPU starts with 48GB of RAM, upgradeable to 64GB or 128GB 16-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display 18-core CPU, 20-core GPU starts with 48GB of RAM, upgradeable to 64GB or 128GB 16-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display 18-core CPU, 32-core GPU with 36GB of RAM 18-core CPU, 40-core GPU starts with 48GB of RAM, upgradeable to 64GB or 128GB Other new features The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display also features: A six-speaker audio system with a new woofer design for added bass. Audio tuning for closed-lid use when connected to an external display. Advanced video stabilization in the camera Up to 16TB of SSD storage. Prices Here are the starting prices for the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display. They all cost $400 more than the equivalent non-OLED mdoels. 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display: $2,899/£2,899 14-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display: $4,499/£4,499 16-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display: $3,399/£3,399 16-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display: $4,799/£4,799 Pre-ordering is now live , with shipments starting on November 6.