Apple has officially introduced a touchscreen version of its MacBook Pro, marking a notable shift in its laptop lineup nearly a decade after the company discontinued the Touch Bar. The new touchscreen MacBook Pro starts at $2,899, a premium price point reflecting Apple’s positioning of this model as a high-end device aimed at professionals. The launch comes amid ongoing hardware supply challenges, including a memory shortage, which contribute to the elevated prices.

The most expensive configurations of the new MacBook Pro push pricing well beyond previous records. Fully loaded models with all upgrades reach $14,249 for the 14-inch version, and $14,549 for the 16-inch model. These versions are equipped with Apple’s latest M5 Max chip, featuring an 18-core CPU and a 40-core GPU, ensuring top-tier performance. Storage upgrades are a significant factor in the pricing, with costs increasing by thousands of dollars for higher-capacity solid-state drives, including a new 16TB SSD option priced at an additional $7,000.

Memory upgrades also drive costs higher, with the option to expand RAM to 128GB adding $2,000 to the total. Other enhancements such as nano-texture glass for the display come at $150 extra. The new price ceiling represents a sharp increase from the prior 16-inch MacBook Pro, which topped out at $10,149, reflecting Apple’s push into the premium segment with cutting-edge hardware and new touchscreen capabilities.

Preorders for the touchscreen MacBook Pro open on October 30th, with availability expected to begin on November 6th. Apple’s move to a touchscreen interface on its flagship laptops highlights a broader trend towards greater interactivity and flexibility in professional computing devices, even if it means consumers will need to prepare for significantly higher investments.