Apple Unveils Touchscreen MacBook Pro, M6 Chips, and AI Software Updates

Apple concluded its week of product announcements on Wednesday with its "Pro and tell" event, where it introduced the long-anticipated touchscreen MacBook Pro. This new device, revealed by CEO John Ternus, marks Apple's first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, enabling gestures like scrolling, swiping, and pinching. The touch sensor is integrated directly into the display panel to reduce latency, and the laptop features a tandem OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 2,000 nits of brightness. The 14-inch model weighs 3 pounds, is lighter than previous versions, and includes an illuminated Apple logo and a Dynamic Island for real-time updates, file searches, and Siri AI access. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and an M5 Pro chip starts at $2,899, while the 16-inch version with an M5 Pro begins at $3,399, with M5 Max configurations also available. Preorders opened on Wednesday, with availability set for November 6th.

Beyond the flagship MacBook Pro, Apple also unveiled several other device upgrades. The iPad Mini received an OLED display upgrade, now featuring a larger 8.5-inch screen and a thickness of 5.4mm, with bezels 24 percent slimmer than its predecessor. It incorporates a new "Acoustic Display" with woofers for enhanced bass and volume, is powered by Apple's A20 Pro chip, and includes a 12-megapixel landscape camera and an IP67 rating for water and dust protection. The iPad Mini starts at $699 for the Wi-Fi only 128GB model and is available in "midnight" and "starlight" colors, with nano-texture display options for higher storage configurations.

Additionally, the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro was refreshed with Apple's new M6 chip and an in-house N1 networking chip, adding support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. This model features three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, MagSafe 3, HDMI, and an SDXC memory card slot, alongside a Liquid Retina XDR display with a nano-texture option and a 12MP Center Stage camera. It starts at $1,999 for a configuration with a 12-core CPU, 12-core GPU, 16GB of memory, and 1TB of storage. Apple's iMac line also received the M6 chip, which the company states delivers "up to 5x faster on-device AI performance" compared to the M4-powered iMac, and includes the new N1 wireless networking chip. M6 iMacs start at $1,499 with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB of memory, 256GB of storage, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports. Both the M6 MacBook Pro and M6 iMac are available for preorder today, with shipping and availability beginning November 6th.

Apple also detailed significant AI-focused updates across its software suite. Keynote, Numbers, and Pages will integrate an AI chatbot, developed with models from Apple and OpenAI, capable of understanding document context. This chatbot can design and animate slides in Keynote, create and restructure drafts in Pages, and calculate and visualize data in Numbers. Further AI enhancements include an AI-powered fill feature for Pixelmator Pro, a new AI assistant in Logic Pro, and direct access to MotionVFX within Final Cut Pro.

What to watch: The market's reception to Apple's first touchscreen MacBook Pro and its new AI integrations.

Editor's note: The draft is a comprehensive and well-structured summary of the product announcements, accurately capturing all technical specifications and pricing mentioned in the source.