New 15in MacBook Pros get Force Touch trackpads as Apple drops price of 5K iMac

Apple has upgraded its 15in MacBook Pro range to include the company's new Force Touch trackpad and improved performance, while the price of the 5K iMac has been dropped.

Announced ahead of its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), formerly the home of MacBook Pro updates, the new models are available to buy now. Force Touch trackpads are already used by the smaller 13in MacBook Pro and the all-new 12in MacBook.

Instead of mechanically clicking, the trackpads use haptic feedback to make them feel like they are being clicked when pressed; a firmer press gives more options in compatible software, essentially replacing the right-click.

The new 15in laptop has RAM which is 2.5 times faster than before, discrete graphics which Apple claims boost performance by 80%, and a battery which lasts nine hours, an hour more than last year's model.

Prices start at £1,599 for a 2.2GHz Intel Core i7 processor with 16Gb of RAM and 256GB of storage. A 2.5GHz model with 512GB of storage costs £1,999, and can be upgraded to 2.8GHz and 1TB of storage for an extra £550.

"The response to the new MacBook and updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display has been amazing, and today we are thrilled to bring the new Force Touch trackpad, faster flash storage and longer battery life to the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

"Customers love the groundbreaking iMac with Retina 5K display, and now with a new lower starting price, even more people can experience the best desktop we've ever made."

5K iMac price cut

Meanwhile, Apple has introduced a new £1,599 configuration of the 27in iMac with Retina 5K display. The all-in-one computer has a 3.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor, AMD Radeon R9 M290 graphics, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. The high-end model, which has a 3.5GHz i5 processor, M290X graphics and a 1TB Fusion Drive now costs £1,849.

Taking the high-end model and upping the processor to 4GHz, the RAM to 32GB, the storage to a 1TB flash drive and the graphics to a 4GB AMD Radeon R9 M295X module sees the price climb to £3,369. The new, cheaper iMac 5K is available now.