Touchscreen MacBook Pro on November 6: Same M5, New Gimmick

Apple’s first touchscreen MacBook Pro now has a likely day in stores. In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple Stores have a “reset” planned for the evening of November 5: new signs, new tables, new products. That fits a launch on Friday, November 6.

The rest of the plan, as reported: Apple announces the new Macs around October 27, probably with press releases rather than a classic keynote, and holds a hands-on “launch experience” for media and creators in Los Angeles on October 28. I wrote about that event in my first article on the touchscreen MacBook Pro.

What is expected, all still rumors: a tandem OLED display like the iPad Pro, touch support, a Dynamic Island instead of the notch but no Face ID, a “significantly lighter” design, and the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips Apple introduced in March 2026. In macOS, touching a control should open a menu around your finger, and the menu bar should enlarge for fingers. Reports differ on the cheaper models: AppleInsider still lists an M6 iMac and an M6 14-inch MacBook Pro, while 9to5Mac says no base model comes now, and a base M7 MacBook Pro could arrive in spring 2027. No price has been reported.

In this article: Four Fridays in a row is the wrong tactic · For once, a press release is enough · No Duo-style chaos this time · M5 now, M7 in spring: this is embarrassing · A menu around your finger will not save it · Dynamic Island without Face ID? Again? · Lighter is nice. Just don’t break the cooling · Please, no “the Mac has Siri AI” · OLED iPad mini the same day, and the wrong direction · Somebody with a wipe in the Apple Store · My price guess: at least $3,500, and a stylus · Who is it really for · FAQ

Four Fridays in a row is the wrong tactic

November 6 would be the third of four Apple launches on four Fridays in a row: iPhone Duo on October 23, HomePod mini 2 on October 30, the new Macs on November 6, and HomeView with the new Apple TV 4K on November 13.

I think this comes from the new CEO, John Ternus, who said Apple will release more products throughout the year. In my opinion, it is the wrong tactic. It shows itself: the faster and the more Apple releases, like now with four Fridays in a row, the more every launch comes with a scandal, or rather with bad noise. Only the Duo was something new, something people were waiting for. The rest are very boring presentations of boring Apple gadgets.

For once, a press release is enough

No keynote, only press releases and an event for influencers? For the first time this month, I will say: here, a press release is enough.

Everybody knows the MacBook Pro is a work machine. Whoever buys the expensive MacBook Pro knows why they buy it and what they will use it for. There is no miracle and no hype around it. When I buy a MacBook, I look only at the model and the specs, and I know it is the best computer, and in my opinion maybe the fastest in the world. It is enough for anything at work for four to five years. Apple does not need a big show here. What stays is the price, and honestly, I am afraid to say it.

No Duo-style chaos this time

After the iPhone Duo fiasco, will the MacBook really be in stores on November 6? I am sure there will be no problem like that. A MacBook is not something new. After so many years, Apple knows how to make it. I am sure you will walk into the Apple Store and buy it right after sales start. There is no miracle there.

I wrote how Gurman called the Duo pre-orders a major mistake. A Mac is a different story for Apple, and that is exactly why it should not need four Fridays of noise.

M5 now, M7 in spring: this is embarrassing

Here we get to the embarrassing part, the one the last month keeps showing us. Why release a new MacBook Pro with the old M5? You already sell the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max since March. Where is the miracle? That you add some suffix at the end of the name?

And when we know that in spring a new one comes with a more efficient chip, I just can’t trust Apple that much anymore. That they really release it with the M5 is, in my opinion, beyond understanding. Or defend that model with something else. But if you think you will defend it with the touch display, I bet people will wait for the M7. Believe it or not.

A 9to5Mac reader said it well: an M5 now and an M7 a few months later would make him not want to buy it. I agree.

A menu around your finger will not save it

Apple, you can put whatever you want around the finger, it will not help you. I don’t believe anyone will go on purpose for an older chip just because of a touch display. Only somebody who is already your real fan will go, the one who buys anything you release, as long as Apple has a new model.

I am sure you will use that touch display maybe once or twice, because I feel a MacBook display gets dirty when the air touches it. I don’t believe anyone will use it on purpose for something. On MacRumors, the most-liked comment says almost the same: the reader has a Dell XPS with touch and never uses it.

So why, even for work machines, do you do something you know people will not use, just so you can say “innovation”? And if some magazine now crowns this Mac as an innovation, I will tell that magazine directly: I will never believe you are professionals and know what you are talking about. The same as I don’t believe the ones who called the Duo a revolution and the invention of 2026. Touchscreen laptops have been on the market since the Windows 8 days, more than 14 years. Foldables, seven years. So again, in my opinion, you want to sell everything just by creating hype around your new products.

Dynamic Island without Face ID? Again?

This is nothing new. Apple did the same years ago. The notch came to the iPhone with the iPhone X in 2017, and it was there for Face ID. Then, in 2021, the MacBook Pro got a notch too, without Face ID. Now they go the same way with the Dynamic Island.

Why do we still not have Face ID? I don’t understand that. If you already make the Dynamic Island, at least let it serve something, not just look like the iPhone.

Lighter is nice. Just don’t break the cooling

“Significantly lighter” is, in my opinion, good. But from the technical side, I hope it really does not hurt the cooling. Apple does not understand that with the MacBook Pro, the design almost does not matter. I am 90% sure people take it as a monster for work, not because of the design. We need it fast as always, doing the work. Nothing more.

If they give it OLED, fine. The rest is marketing. If it is lighter and it does not hurt the technical side, the cooling, I am for it. But I will wait and see what people who upgrade will write.

I don’t need an upgrade yet, maybe in about two years. My MacBook Pro is from 2024, and I don’t feel any discomfort at work. It is still a machine for rendering big projects, and it does it mega fast. And I never buy the first generation of an Apple product anyway.

Please, no “the Mac has Siri AI”

One more thing came to my mind. If they start selling us again that this MacBook has Siri AI, at that moment I will explode. Nobody needs your stupid Siri there, believe it or not, even if it gets smart.

We all already have our favorite AI apps, the ones we got used to, and I know for sure they are so smart that they make our work easier.

OLED iPad mini the same day, and the wrong direction

This is the question that keeps drilling in my head. Tim Cook kept pushing that the iPad is the new computer. He tried that all the time. And now, suddenly, they put a touch display into the MacBook. In my opinion, that is nonsense.

For years, the push was to bring iPadOS as close to the Mac as possible. Now we see the opposite. The Mac is changing, and they are trying to make some toaster out of the MacBook with a tablet touch display inside, a display nobody will even use. That is the wrong direction. It reminds me of what Tim Cook himself once said about merging a toaster and a fridge.

Somebody with a wipe in the Apple Store

Will I go to the Apple Store to try it? Yes. Even if I don’t buy it, at least I will test the new Mac. But I can already see how ugly that MacBook will look in the store when lots of people try the touch display. Or Apple will put a person there with a wipe, cleaning the display after every customer.

My price guess: at least $3,500, and a stylus

I still think they will want to sell us some new stylus with this MacBook. But careful: a new one that works only with this MacBook. And don’t forget it will cost $200.

And the MacBook itself? With how expensive Apple is now, I am afraid it will be at least $3,500. The iPhone Duo already starts at $1,999. Today the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro starts at $2,499, so in my opinion, the OLED model on top of it will not be cheap.

Who is it really for

For people who have older models and need something new for work. And when I say work, so you understand me: I mean people who need a monster for work. People who take a laptop and know they can open it somewhere in a café and don’t have to sit at home at a big computer. People who work in Adobe, or edit a big video project with about 100 different tracks, or people who need heavy software for making games or effects.

That is the work I am talking about. So nobody jumps on me and says “for work”. For emails and texts, even the MacBook Neo is enough.

Also on Evolt News: iPhone Duo sold out, wait until 2027 · HomeView on a robot arm

Images: Apple.

This article is opinion.

Touchscreen MacBook Pro release: FAQ

When will the touchscreen MacBook Pro be released?

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, it could go on sale Friday, November 6, 2026. Apple Stores reportedly have a reset planned for the evening of November 5. Apple has not confirmed the date.

When will Apple announce the touchscreen MacBook Pro?

Reports point to an announcement around October 27, likely through press releases, followed by a media and creator “launch experience” in Los Angeles on October 28.

What chip will the touchscreen MacBook Pro use?

Reports say it will use the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips that Apple introduced in March 2026. 9to5Mac reports a base M7 MacBook Pro could follow in spring 2027.

Will the touchscreen MacBook Pro have Face ID?

Reports say it will have a Dynamic Island instead of the notch, but no Face ID.

How much will the touchscreen MacBook Pro cost?

No price has been reported. Today’s 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro starts at $2,499. In my opinion, the OLED model will cost at least $3,500.

Sources: Bloomberg (Mark Gurman, Power On), 9to5Mac and its readers, AppleInsider, MacRumors and its readers, Apple Newsroom.

Our Take

For a work machine, a press release is enough. But in my opinion, the same M5 with a touchscreen nobody will use is not innovation, it is hype.

Fast, cool and reliable is all a MacBook Pro needs. I think many people will wait for the M7.