Apple is rolling out five new products on store shelves and online today, following preorders that opened last week. It is one of the company's busier single-day launches of the year and includes a genuine first for the MacBook Pro line: touchscreen displays.
The lineup includes a redesigned iPad mini with an OLED display and Apple's new A20 Pro chip, starting at $699. There is also a new iMac built around Apple's M6 chip, starting at $1,499, and a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip starting at $1,999. The headline additions are new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models that for the first time include OLED touchscreens, priced from $2,899 and $3,399 respectively.
The touchscreen MacBook Pro has been one of the most requested changes from longtime Mac users, and Apple has historically moved cautiously on touch inputs for its laptop line, arguing for years that MacOS was not designed around touch the way iPadOS is. The shift to an OLED touchscreen panel also brings the MacBook Pro's display technology in line with the iPhone and the latest iPad Pro models, which made the jump to OLED in recent years for richer contrast and deeper blacks.
The launch lands at a sensitive moment for technology investors, who spent Thursday selling off AI-exposed stocks over concerns about whether heavy capital spending on data centers and chips will pay off. Apple's hardware business operates on a different cycle than the AI infrastructure buildout drawing investor scrutiny, and today's releases give Apple a concrete product story heading into the holiday shopping season, independent of the broader debate over AI spending.
Early reviews and sales reception for the touchscreen MacBook Pro models, and whether Apple sees any comparisons to its competitors' earlier, less successful touchscreen laptop experiments.
Is this Apple's first touchscreen MacBook?
Yes, the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are the first in the line to include OLED touchscreen displays.
What is the cheapest new product released today?
The new iPad mini, starting at $699, is the least expensive item in today's release.