Apple has kept up a steady stream of new products to satisfy the financial masochists out there, but the Fruit Company’s latest is perhaps the most gluttonous of all. Yesterday, Apple lifted the lid on the MacBook Pro with a PROLED XDR Display, a touchscreen effort that runs counter to Steve Jobs’ entire laptop design philosophy.
Not that that matters in today’s landscape. Touchscreen laptops have existed for quite some time. Apple is simply taking advantage of an existing market, and charging a lot of money for the privilege. We’re not talking about a R77,000 charge. If you want the fully-specced touchscreen MacBook, you’re looking at R240,000. Minimum.
MacBook Pro loses touch with reality
The new touchscreen MacBook Pro is available in two sizes, as ever. 14in or 16in is the first big decision buyers will make, followed by a Space Black or Silver colourway. You can get a ‘Standard glass’ screen, or cough up another R2,500 ($150) for nano-texture glass. Apple reckons the extra fee reduces glare.
Apple is heaping praise on what it calls its PROLED XDR to justify the absurd pricing. It sports the same tandem OLED technology we’ve seen in other Apple products. It’ll top out at 2,000 nits of brightness, and supports refresh rates between 10Hz and 120Hz. It’s also a touchscreen, though Apple hasn’t adjusted the software to support that. A Dynamic Island now sits where the notch sat before — notably with no Face ID.
Read More: Apple announces the ‘new’ iPad Mini
The MacBook Pro is ever so slightly smaller than its Pro kin, though not by much. More impressive is the 200-300g weight reduction, depending on your model. Other notable changes include a glowing Apple logo on the rear, reminding us of the MacBooks of yore. A new woofer design provides 50% deeper bass, the company said.
From there, it comes down to the usual bits you’d pack into your MacBook. A choice of M5 Pro or M5 Max (with a choice of an 18-core CPU and 32-core GPU) is available, followed by up to 128GB of RAM and 16TB of storage. Total it all up, and Apple will charge R240,000 ($14,550) to own the ‘best’ model available. A listing has yet to appear on South Africa’s iStore, though we’re doubtful it’ll bring in the most expensive models.
