Apple's New Macs: Which One to Buy, Which to Skip

 

Apple's New Macs Are Here: Which One to Buy, Which to Skip

By Sidra Salman · October 29, 2026

Yesterday's event is over, the rumors are done, and the prices are real. Apple has now confirmed what our preview of the touchscreen MacBook Pro could only report as expectation: the first Mac you can touch, a cheaper and faster base MacBook Pro, a refreshed iMac, and a new iPad mini. Pre-orders opened October 28, and all of them reach stores Friday, November 6.

That leaves a harder question than "what did Apple announce?" It is "which one, if any, should you buy?" Because Apple has now made it genuinely easy to spend $3,000 on the wrong Mac. The three new Macs look similar in photos, share a name, and differ in ways that matter a lot once you pay. Here is the whole lineup, separated properly, with a straight answer for each kind of buyer.

What Apple actually announced

First, a warning that will save you money: there are two different new MacBook Pros, and mixing them up is the most expensive mistake you can make this week. They are separate machines with separate chips, separate screens, and a $900 gap between their starting prices.

Product	Starting US price	Key change	In stores
MacBook Pro with touchscreen (14- and 16-inch)	$2,899	Tandem OLED touch display, Dynamic Island, M5 Pro or M5 Max	November 6
14-inch MacBook Pro (base)	$1,999	New M6 chip, same design as before	November 6
24-inch iMac	$1,499	New M6 chip, same design, seven colors	November 6
iPad mini	$699	OLED display, A20 Pro chip, IP67 rating	November 6

One honest caveat before we go further: almost every performance claim in this article comes from Apple's own announcements. Independent reviews and benchmark tests have not had time to verify them yet. Treat Apple's "up to" numbers as claims, not measured results, and wait for reviews if you are spending serious money.

The touchscreen MacBook Pro: the headline act

This is the machine that ends a decade of Apple saying no. The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are the first Macs with a touchscreen, using a tandem OLED display Apple calls PROLED XDR — two stacked OLED layers for extra brightness — and they replace the old notch with the iPhone-style Dynamic Island. The glowing Apple logo on the lid is back, after ten years away. The 14-inch model weighs about 3 pounds, and the machines are slightly thinner and lighter than the mini-LED models they sit alongside.

Here is the part that will divide buyers: these flagship models run M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the same chips already in the MacBook Pros introduced in March 2026. You are paying for the screen, not for faster performance. MacRumors reports the OLED models carry roughly a $400 premium over comparable mini-LED models, and the range runs from $2,899 up to $4,799 before you start adding storage — one report puts a fully loaded configuration at $14,549, with storage up to 16TB, double the previous limit.

So who is it actually for? Creators who sketch, annotate, and scroll directly on screen. Presenters who tap through slides. Anyone who already reaches for the screen on a Windows laptop and resents that a Mac never let them. Apple's own executives have spent years calling this ergonomically tiring — the famous "gorilla arm" objection — and the answer will come down to the hinge. Engadget's hands-on notes flag exactly this: a reinforced hinge matters, because a screen that wobbles when you tap it turns a feature into an annoyance. Early reports also note there are no big interface changes yet to make full use of touch, so for now touch is an extra way to interact, not a new way of using a Mac.

Buy it if you do visual work and you know you will touch the screen daily. Skip it if you mostly type, code, or write — your hands live on the keyboard, and the cheaper M6 model below gives you more performance per dollar.

The M6 MacBook Pro: the sensible pick most people should buy

The base 14-inch MacBook Pro, starting at $1,999, keeps the current design — no OLED, no touchscreen — and simply gets the new M6 chip. That sounds boring next to a touchscreen, and that is exactly why it is the right buy for most people. It is $900 cheaper than the touchscreen model at the starting line, it is the newest silicon Apple sells in a laptop, and it does everything a laptop buyer actually needs: writing, coding, office work, photo editing, and a lot of video work besides.

If you are choosing between the two MacBook Pros, ask yourself one question: in the last month, how many times did you reach out and touch your laptop screen, wishing it worked? If the answer is "never" or "once, by accident," the M6 model is your machine. The $900 you save buys a monitor, a dock, or a very good pair of headphones — and our guide to how noise-cancelling headphones work will help you spend that part wisely.

The same logic applies if you are still deciding what a processor even does for you: our guide to choosing a laptop in 2026 explains processors, RAM, and storage in plain English, and it is worth ten minutes before a $2,000 purchase.

The M6 iMac: the family and desk computer

The 24-inch iMac, from $1,499, gets the M6 chip and not much else — same design, same seven colors. That is fine, because the iMac was never bought for its chip alone. It is bought by people who want one tidy machine on a desk: screen, computer, speakers, and camera in a single slim slab, with no tower, no cable tangle, and no monitor shopping.

Buy it if you want a shared family computer, a home office machine that looks good in a living room, or a simple setup for parents or kids. Skip it if you need a laptop for travel, or if you already own a good monitor — in that case a Mac mini with your existing screen is usually better value, and Apple refreshed that line's silicon earlier this year too.

The OLED iPad mini: the quiet surprise

Do not overlook the smallest announcement. The iPad mini, from $699, gets an OLED display — only the second iPad to do so after the iPad Pro — plus a new A20 Pro chip, a relocated front camera, a revamped speaker system, and, for the first time on any iPad, an official water and dust resistance rating of IP67. That means it survives brief submersion and splashing, which matters a lot for a device people read in kitchens, carry in bags, and hand to kids.

Buy it if you want a small, light reader and note-taker that now has a genuinely premium screen. Skip it if you already own a recent iPad mini and mostly read on it — the screen is better, but it is not $699 better for reading alone.

Should you pre-order now, or wait?

Here is my framework, and it is stricter than Apple's marketing would like. Pre-order now only if you know exactly which model you want, you have checked that it is the right chip and screen (touchscreen versus M6 — read that table again), and you need the machine in the next two weeks. November 6 is only days away, so waiting costs you almost nothing.

Wait if you are spending over $2,500, if you are unsure between the two MacBook Pros, or if you want independent battery and performance tests. First-generation redesigns — a new hinge, a new display, new touch software — can have teething problems that only show up in reviews. The mini-LED MacBook Pros are still on sale, and retailers often discount outgoing models when replacements arrive, so patience may save you money twice.

One more trap to avoid: do not buy the touchscreen model assuming touch will transform how you use a Mac. Early hands-on coverage suggests macOS has not been reworked around touch yet. Buy it for the OLED screen and the touch you will use for tapping, scrolling, and signing — not for a future interface that may arrive later.

The bottom line

Apple's week breaks down simply. The touchscreen MacBook Pro is the exciting one, the M6 MacBook Pro is the smart buy for most people, the iMac is the tidy desk machine, and the iPad mini is the sleeper upgrade. Match the machine to your hands, not to the headlines, and double-check the chip and screen on your order before you pay — because this week, two Macs with the same name are $900 apart, and only one of them has a touchscreen.

Frequently Asked Questions

When can I buy Apple's new Macs? Pre-orders opened October 28, 2026, and all four products — the touchscreen MacBook Pro, the M6 MacBook Pro, the M6 iMac, and the OLED iPad mini — reach stores Friday, November 6, 2026.

Does the touchscreen MacBook Pro use the M6 chip? No. The touchscreen models use M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. The M6 chip is in the separate base 14-inch MacBook Pro and the new iMac. Confusing the two is the easiest expensive mistake this week.

How much more does the touchscreen MacBook Pro cost? It starts at $2,899, about $900 above the base M6 MacBook Pro's $1,999, and MacRumors reports roughly a $400 premium over comparable mini-LED models. Fully loaded configurations climb far higher, with storage up to 16TB.

Is the touchscreen MacBook Pro worth waiting for reviews? Yes, if you are spending $2,899 or more. Independent tests have not yet verified Apple's battery and performance claims, and a new hinge and display deserve real-world checking before that kind of purchase.

About the Author

Sidra Salman is the founder of Electronic Media, where she writes practical, research-backed guides on consumer electronics, gadgets and home entertainment tech. Every guide is tested and written in plain English for a US audience.