Apple announced its first touchscreen MacBook Pro, with the 14-inch starting at $2,899, and prices across its Mac lineup keep climbing.
Apple has built a Mac laptop you can touch. The company announced the MacBook Pro with ProLED XDR Display on Wednesday. It is the first Apple laptop with a touch screen, and it goes on sale Nov. 6. The 14-inch model starts at $2,899. The 16-inch model starts at $3,399. Both cost notably more than the models they follow.
It still runs the regular Mac software, not iPhone or iPad software. In a video, Apple showed people swiping on the screen to work with videos and images. The keyboard and trackpad are still there.
Apple has avoided touchscreen laptops for decades, even as some Windows laptops added them. In 2018, software chief Craig Federighi said the ergonomics would tire users out. In 2021, John Ternus, then a hardware executive, said the Mac was built for indirect input, like a trackpad, and Apple saw no reason to change. Ternus is now CEO. "Yes, for the very first time, we are bringing touch to the Mac," he said at the event.
Laptop prices are rising across the industry. Analysts say a global memory shortage tied to AI demand is a key reason. Nearly all Macs got price hikes this year, and Apple's lineup rose by several hundred dollars in June. Mac Minis introduced in August went up $300. An iPad Mini announced Monday starts at $699, which is $100 more than the one before it.
Sales have suffered. Laptop shipments are expected to fall 11% this year. Apple's own shipments dropped 11% in the third quarter, according to market researcher IDC, while the whole PC market fell 20%.
Maybe less than Apple's reversal suggests. IDC says only 17% of laptops shipped worldwide this year will have touchscreens. Ryan Reith of IDC called touch just another feature, not a main reason people buy. Touchscreen laptops also sell for slightly less on average than those without touch. He said the real challenge is software and interface design, and that a good touch Mac could draw in developers.
If you are shopping for a Mac, expect to pay more than you would have a year ago. Decide whether touch is something you would use daily before paying for it. The material does not say how this model performs in real use, so reviews closer to the Nov. 6 release will help.
Apple's first touchscreen Mac starts at $2,899 on Nov. 6, so check that you would really use touch before paying the higher price.
Bose's new 23-inch TV Speaker costs $299 and, in one reviewer's tests, made dialogue clearer than the pricier Sonos Beam 2.
Read more: Bose's small $299 soundbar makes dialogue clearer than pricier rivalsIn a hand-counted 4,500-step walk, the $180 Fitbit Edge was off by 8 steps and the $800 Apple Watch Ultra 4 by 51. Both did the job well.
Read more: A $180 Fitbit counted steps more closely than an $800 Apple WatchA growing set of companies sell phones for kids that limit who can call and what they can see, with prices starting around $99.
Read more: Phones built for kids are booming, from $99 phones to landlines
