With the New M3 MacBook Pro, Apple Officially Discontinues the Touch Bar

The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip was the only laptop left in Apple’s lineup to include the Touch Bar. With the introduction of the M3-powered 14-inch MacBook Pro, the Cupertino company has removed the base 13-inch MacBook Pro from its online store, marking the end of the divisive touchscreen above the keyboard.

Apple started moving away from the Touch Bar – which is a context-sensitive touchscreen that’s meant to replace the keyboard’s physical function keys – with the M1 16-inch MacBook Pro. Since then, subsequent MacBooks gradually shipped without the feature. Well, except for the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Now that the 14-inch MacBook Pro is available with an M3 chip – it was previously configurable with the Pro and Max options only – the M3 model now serves as the entry-level MacBook Pro laptop. While this does bring down the starting price of the 14-inch MacBook Pro to RM7,499, the price of entry for Apple’s Pro laptop is actually higher now, given that the M2 MacBook Pro started at RM5,699.

Nonetheless, you do get a faster, sleeker-looking laptop with the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro minus the divisive Touch Bar, though it’s not quite available for purchase in Malaysia yet. Rest assured, we will keep close tabs on the local availability of the new MacBook Pro.