Apple's new touchscreen MacBook Pro does not only change what you see. According to Apple's announcement, the 14-inch and 16-inch models also get a reworked six-speaker audio system, and for the first time the company has tuned the sound specifically for use with the lid closed.
Deeper bass, clearer highs
Apple says the speaker array uses an all-new woofer design that produces 50 percent deeper bass than before. The tweeters have also been redesigned. According to Apple, they shape how sound disperses, which the company says improves clarity. Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is supported for music and movies, and Apple describes the microphones as studio quality.
Tuned for a closed lid
MacRumors reports that this is the first time Apple has added dedicated audio tuning for closed-lid use. The idea, as the outlet describes it, is to improve how the built-in speakers sound when the MacBook Pro is connected to an external display, so the laptop can serve as the speaker system in a desktop setup. Apple has not, in the material reviewed, published measurements comparing open-lid and closed-lid output, so how large the improvement is in practice remains to be seen.
Pricing and availability
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the PROLED XDR display starts at $2,899, and the 16-inch model starts at $3,399, according to MacRumors. Pre-orders opened on October 28, and the machines are due to launch on November 6.
What else is new
The audio changes arrive alongside the headline hardware: the tandem OLED touch display, a Dynamic Island on the Mac, Thunderbolt 5 and a 12MP Center Stage camera, all running macOS 27 with Apple Intelligence and Siri AI, per Apple.
Independent reviews are not yet available, so claims about bass depth and clarity are Apple's own for now. Cupertino News will follow up once the first hands-on and lab impressions appear ahead of the November 6 launch.
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