The New MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display Explained: Touch, Performance & Price
Apple's new MacBook Pro adds a tandem OLED display, Touch and M5 Pro or M5 Max chips. Here is what has changed, who it suits and what it costs in Australia.
Apple has announced a new MacBook Pro with a different kind of screen and, for the first time on a Mac, a touchscreen. The display is called PROLED XDR, it comes in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, and it is paired with the M5 Pro or M5 Max chip.
It is a separate line from the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6, which has a Liquid Retina XDR display. If you are weighing up a new MacBook Pro, here is what the new models add, who they suit and what they cost in Australia.
What PROLED XDR actually is
PROLED XDR is Apple’s name for a tandem OLED display. In plain terms, each pixel makes its own light and can switch off completely, which gives deep blacks right next to bright highlights. Apple says this avoids the glow around bright objects that you can see on screens lit from behind.
Apple rates the screen at up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness (nits are a measure of brightness) for both HDR and standard content. It has a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio, which is the gap between the darkest and brightest parts of the picture, and an adaptive refresh rate from 10 to 120Hz, which keeps motion smooth. It covers both the P3 and Adobe RGB colour ranges, which matters to photographers and designers who prepare work for print as well as screen. There is also a nano-texture glass option that reduces reflections in bright rooms.
For comparison, Apple lists the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 at up to 1,600 nits of peak HDR brightness.
Touch comes to the Mac
Touch is the biggest change. The touch sensor is built into the display panel, and you can scroll, pinch to zoom, drag and drop, and flick a window into place with your finger. It works alongside the keyboard and trackpad, so nothing you already know changes.
Apple says many existing apps work with Touch straight away, because macOS turns touches into clicks. Apps built for Touch are still arriving, and Apple lists Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook among those coming later this year. Our view is that Touch is a welcome extra for drawing, music and design work, but not a reason to choose this model on its own for everyday office use.
Dynamic Island and Siri AI
The Dynamic Island, familiar from the iPhone, comes to the Mac. It becomes the home for Spotlight search, Live Activities such as a song playing or an AirDrop request, and Siri AI.
The MacBook Pro comes with macOS 27, which includes Siri AI, Apple’s more conversational assistant. Apple lists Siri AI as a beta feature, and says Spotlight only moves to the Dynamic Island if Siri AI is available and switched on. Our explainer on Siri AI and Apple Intelligence covers what it does and who can use it.
M5 Pro, M5 Max and what they are for
Both chips are the most powerful Apple has built for a laptop. Apple positions the M5 Pro for demanding professional work such as compiling code, running AI tools and editing video. The M5 Max is aimed at the heaviest jobs, including 3D animation, visual effects and 8K video, and Apple says it can run very large AI models entirely on the Mac. Memory goes up to 128GB and storage up to 16TB, depending on the configuration.
If running AI on your own Mac is part of the appeal, our guide to running AI locally on a Mac explains when it is worth doing.
Lighter, with the ports you expect
The new design is thinner and lighter. The 14-inch model weighs 1.38 kilograms and the 16-inch model weighs 1.82 kilograms. Apple rates battery life at up to 24 hours, depending on how you use it.
Ports are three Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 and a headphone jack, along with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Touch ID. The M5 Pro model supports up to three external displays and the M5 Max model up to four.
Who this suits
For general office work, email and Microsoft 365, we recommend the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6, which starts at RRP A$3,199 inc. GST1. It has the performance most people need, and you are not paying for a display and chip you will not use.
The PROLED XDR models are for people whose work depends on the screen or on sustained heavy workloads. That means photographers, designers, video editors, 3D artists and anyone building or testing with large AI models. For those users, the display and the M5 Max are where the extra money goes.
Whichever model you choose, we recommend choosing memory and storage for the heaviest job the MacBook Pro will do, because neither can be upgraded later.
Pricing and availability in Australia
Apple is taking pre-orders from 29 October, with availability from Friday 6 November.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and M5 Pro starts at RRP A$4,599 inc. GST1, or RRP A$4,359 inc. GST1 with education pricing. The 16-inch model with M5 Pro starts at RRP A$5,499 inc. GST1, or RRP A$5,179 inc. GST1 with education pricing.
With the M5 Max, the 14-inch model starts at RRP A$6,999 inc. GST1, or RRP A$6,529 inc. GST1 with education pricing. The 16-inch model starts at RRP A$7,699 inc. GST1, or RRP A$7,219 inc. GST1 with education pricing.
If you are trading in an older Mac, Apple’s trade-in program can put credit toward the new machine, and AppleCare+ or AppleCare One remain available for ongoing cover.
Need a hand deciding?
If you are not sure which MacBook Pro suits your work, or you want help choosing the right memory and storage before you order, see our Mac Support & Setup service, or contact Your Mac Tech and we can talk it through.
1. Prices shown are current as at October 2026.
