Apple's new touchscreen MacBook Pro costs up to $14,549 when fully loaded
Apple has unveiled its first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, starting at $2,899. The most heavily upgraded 16-inch configuration costs $14,549, which is $4,400 more than the top price of the previous model.
US tech company Apple announced on October 28 a new MacBook Pro laptop with a touchscreen. It is the first model in the line to feature a touch-sensitive display, with the base version priced from $2,899. Maximum configurations cost far more, putting the device at the highest price level Apple has set for its laptops.
Pricing and configurations
As first reported by the tech site MacRumors, Apple's online configurator prices a fully loaded 14-inch model at $14,249 and the 16-inch version at $14,549. Both come with the top M5 Max chip, which has an 18-core CPU and a 40-core GPU.
The upgrade costs break down as follows:
- a 4TB SSD adds $1,000;
- an 8TB SSD adds $3,000;
- the new 16TB option adds $7,000;
- 128GB of memory adds $2,000;
- nano-texture glass adds $150.
According to the source, some of the pricing pressure can be attributed to the ongoing memory shortage and the AI sector's heavy demand for hardware.
For comparison, the previous 16-inch MacBook Pro topped out at $10,149, so the new model's ceiling is $4,400 higher.
A notable shift
The touchscreen marks a significant change in Apple's laptop approach. Nearly a decade ago the company experimented with the Touch Bar, a small touch-sensitive strip above the keyboard, but it later dropped that feature. Now Apple is bringing a full touchscreen to its laptops.
Preorders open on October 30, and the devices go on sale on November 6.
