Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and Max: Touchscreen OLED Display Arrives Late, but With a Key Advantage

ZDNet AI · 2026-10-28
Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro and Max: Touchscreen OLED Display Arrives Late, but With a Key Advantage

Apple has officially introduced its new MacBook Pro models featuring the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, now equipped with a touchscreen OLED display. This marks a significant shift as Apple brings touch capabilities—long a staple of the iPhone and iPad—to its professional laptop line. The move is seen as a response to years of user demand and competitive pressure from Windows laptops with touchscreens. While some may argue the feature is late to the party, the integration of OLED technology offers a major advantage: deeper blacks, higher contrast ratios, and more vibrant colors compared to traditional LCD panels. This could be a game-changer for creative professionals who rely on color accuracy for photo and video editing. The new MacBook Pros are expected to appeal to a broad range of users, from developers to designers, who will benefit from the added flexibility of touch input without sacrificing the performance of Apple’s most powerful chips. With this update, Apple is not just catching up—it’s setting a new standard for premium laptops. The combination of M5 silicon and OLED touchscreen could redefine what users expect from a high-end notebook. Time will tell if this late entry will dominate the market, but the technology itself is undeniably impressive.