Hands-on: Apple MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display

Apple is finally bringing touch to the MacBook Pro. Meet the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display. Yes, the name is a mouthful, but the display is really quite wonderful.

To start, it’s a tandem display – the same display technology used in the iPad Pro – which means it’s impressively bright. Apple claims a peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits when showing HDR content, and a contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1. I can’t verify these numbers with my eyes, but the display certainly gets bright even in very harsh direct light, and it looks beautiful.

It features ProMotion technology, so its refresh rate can go from as low as 10Hz to 120Hz. You can also get it with a nano-texture display, which significantly reduces reflection and glare. If I were placing an order for one, I would definitely go for the nano -texture display. 

It supports touch, and it works just like you’d expect. Touch technology in a laptop is not new, but this is the first time Apple is bringing it to a MacBook. Based on my short hands-on session, it feels fluid and responsive – certainly as good, if not better than any Windows laptop with a touchscreen. 

There’s also a Dynamic Island, which hides the 12MP front-facing camera, but also acts as an area where it can display Live Activities. It works just like it does on an iPhone. I’ve been using an app called Bartender to simulate the Dynamic Island on my MacBook, and it’s good to see that it’s now available natively – albeit only on this new model.

Thanks to the OLED display, Apple is able to slightly reduce the dimensions and weight. The 14-inch model is 0.5mm thinner and weighs 220g less. The 16-inch model is 0.8mm thinner and 320g lighter. I had the chance to handle them, and I couldn’t really tell they were any thinner or lighter.

What I couldn’t miss, however, was the return of the glowing Apple logo on the display cover. After years of fans lamenting its removal, it’s finally back. Hopefully Apple will bring it back to all of its MacBooks. Two colour options are available: Space Black and Silver.

These new MacBook Pros come with either the M5 Pro or M5 Max chips. It’s interesting that we are not getting faster versions of the M6 chips, which must mean Apple is going to transition quickly to its M7 chips in the near future. A minimum of 24GB of memory comes as standard in models with the M5 Pro, and 36GB in models with the M5 Max. The maximum amount of storage you can have is 16TB, though that’s going to cost you quite a bit.

Ports are unchanged from the standard MacBook Pro, so you get three USB-C Thunderbolt 5 ports, a full-size HDMI port, a MagSafe 3 port, a headphone jack, and an SDXC card reader. 

To be clear, these models do not replace the existing 14 and 16-inch M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros. Those will continue to be available. Instead, the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display will represent the pinnacle of MacBooks, and could be an interesting proposition for users who demand the absolute best displays and want to interact with their MacBooks using touch. 

Based on first impressions, the displays of these new MacBook Pros are remarkable and gorgeous, but the same can be also be said for the mini-LED displays found in the current MacBook Pros. I always thought the mini-LED displays looked great. I’ll need to evaluate them side by side to know for sure.

Availability and pricing

The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display is available in 14-inch or 16-inch sizes. Prices start at S$3,999 for the 14-inch model and S$4,499 for the 16-inch model. You can find prices for M5 Pro and M5 Max versions below:

Screen size	Chip	Memory	Storage	Price
14-inch	M5 Pro	24GB	1TB	S$3,999
14-inch	M5 Max	36GB	2TB	S$6,299
16-inch	M5 Pro	24GB	1TB	S$4,499
16-inch	M5 Max	36GB	2TB	S$6,499

These new MacBooks are available to pre-order now and will be available in stores on 6 November.