A slimmer MacBook Pro is a winner, even if its touchscreen rarely changes how you work

Touch is an extra feature

After testing the laptop for nearly a week, the reviewer says its thinner design, display and Dynamic Island draw more attention than its touchscreen. They often forget they can reach out and tap the screen.

Touch proved genuinely useful on some occasions, offering a more intuitive option than a trackpad or mouse. Still, it does not meaningfully change the overall laptop experience, the reviewer writes.

A thinner, upgraded design

The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display is described as lighter, thinner and better overall. The review characterizes it as an evolution of Apple’s powerful laptop, with upgrades but no new problems.

The display is described as gorgeous, with slimmer bezels and a smaller cutout making it feel more prominent. Apple says it redesigned the laptop’s thermals to fit the new design and direct heat away from the OLED display.

Prices and performance

The 14-inch model starts at $2,899, while the 16-inch starts at $3,399. Both are available with M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, alongside different configurations and RAM and storage options.

The reviewer’s 14-inch M5 Pro test unit has 18 CPU cores, 20 GPU cores, 48GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and costs $3,699. Its benchmark results broadly match other devices with an M5 Pro, and the reviewer says the chip suits graphics-heavy work and local AI development.

Apple’s M5 Pro and M5 Max deliver stronger results on more complex computing tasks, particularly those involving the GPU, the review says. The laptop’s fans tend to start before the machine feels hot, which the reviewer says appears deliberate.