Apple's touchscreen MacBook Pro starts at $2,899 and tops out at $14,549

Apple's most expensive MacBook yet

Apple has officially brought touch input to the MacBook Pro, and a fully configured version of the new machine now costs more than any MacBook before it. According to TechCrunch and The Verge, the touchscreen MacBook Pro line starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch model and $3,399 for the 16-inch. Maxing out every available option pushes those same machines to $14,249 and $14,549 respectively. MacRumors was first to surface the configurator prices, a detail both outlets credit.

Where the money goes

Both top-tier configurations are built around Apple's M5 Max chip, which combines an 18-core CPU with a 40-core GPU. From there, the upgrade costs stack quickly. TechCrunch reports that moving to a 4TB SSD adds $1,000, stepping up to 8TB adds $3,000, and the newly introduced 16TB tier adds a full $7,000 on its own, making it the single largest line item in the build. An additional $2,000 buys 128GB of memory, and nano-texture glass costs another $150.

The Verge's breakdown shows just how much the 16TB option drives the total. If the new 16-inch model is instead configured with 8TB of storage, a fully loaded version lands at $10,549, only $400 above the $10,149 ceiling of the previous 16-inch MacBook Pro. In other words, the bulk of the $4,400 increase over the last generation comes from the new storage tier rather than from the touchscreen or the OLED display, which The Verge highlights as the headline hardware changes alongside the higher price tag.

Both outlets also point to the same underlying cause for the pricing pressure: the ongoing memory shortage and the heavy hardware demand generated by AI workloads.

The end of a long holdout

Beyond the numbers, the launch marks a significant reversal for Apple. As TechCrunch observes, the company first experimented with touch on the MacBook nearly a decade ago with the Touch Bar, a feature it eventually abandoned. The new machine represents a much fuller embrace of touchscreen laptops, a category Apple had long steered clear of while rivals shipped convertible and touch-enabled hardware.

Availability

Preorders open on October 30, with availability beginning November 6, according to TechCrunch.

Why it matters

The $14,549 figure is an outlier, but the forces behind it are not. Memory and storage prices are being squeezed by demand from AI infrastructure, and Apple is passing those costs directly to buyers at the very top of its lineup. The near-$4,000 premium for the 16TB tier in particular signals how scarce high-capacity components have become, and how willing premium laptop makers are to price accordingly.

The launch also closes a long-running argument about how a Mac should handle touch input. After the Touch Bar's failure, many assumed Apple would never ship a touchscreen Mac. That it now has, and at flagship pricing, sets a new reference point for what pro laptops cost, and it will be worth watching whether component prices ease enough for those ceilings to come back down, or whether $14,000-plus configurations become the new normal for top-spec portable workstations.