In January 2006, Apple introduced the first 15-inch MacBook Pro, also its first laptop running Intel chips, replacing the PowerBook G4 series. 20 years later, the MacBook Pro has gone through 2 chip architectures, 5 design overhauls, and the latest is the PROLED XDR version with an OLED touch screen, Apple's first Mac with a touch screen.

On that journey, there were changes that were immediately welcomed like the Retina screen or Apple Silicon chip, but there were also controversial things like the Touch Bar or the butterfly keyboard, and then a few years later Apple returned to the old way of doing things. I have compiled the 13 most memorable milestones of the MacBook Pro over the past 20 years into the infographic below for you all to look back on.

Summarizing 20 years of MacBook Pro through a few numbers: 2 chip architectures from Intel to Apple Silicon, 5 design overhauls and 7 major turning points marked in orange in the next pictures.

The early stages were when the MacBook Pro shaped what would later become the defining characteristic of the line. In 2006, the device was released with an Intel Core Duo chip, MagSafe magnetic charger and iSight webcam. In 2008, Apple switched to a unibody aluminum case with a multi-touch glass trackpad, in 2011 the MacBook Pro was the first computer with a 10 Gb / s Thunderbolt port, and in 2012, the 2880×1800 Retina screen appeared, SSDs became standard and optical drives and Ethernet ports were removed.

This is the period with the most ups and downs. After the Force Touch trackpad in 2015, in 2016 Apple brought the Touch Bar to the device, leaving only the USB-C port and using the butterfly keyboard, causing many professional users to complain. Coming to the 16-inch version in 2019, the scissor keyboard and physical Esc key have returned. The biggest turning point in performance came in 2020 with the M1 chip, ending 14 years of using Intel chips and helping the battery to watch videos up to 20 hours.

In 2021, the MacBook Pro was redesigned to prioritize professionals with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. The Touch Bar is gone, the HDMI port, SD card slot and MagSafe 3 charging return, the screen switches to mini-LED XDR 120Hz and has a notch for the first time. Later generations focus on internal upgrades: M3 in 2023 will upgrade to 3nm process with Space Black color, while M4 in 2024 will have Thunderbolt 5, optional nano-texture screen, 16GB starting RAM and 12MP Center Stage camera.

In 2026 alone, there are two milestones. In March, the M5 Pro and M5 Max used the Fusion architecture to combine two dies in one SoC, SSD starting at 1TB with the M5 Pro and 2TB with the M5 Max, and came with an Apple N1 network chip that supported Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. In October, Apple launched the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro PROLED The device is priced from 2,899 USD, on sale on November 6, 2026 and sold in parallel with the mini-LED screen version.

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What's interesting is that many things Apple got rid of and then brought back. MagSafe charging, HDMI port and SD card slot were eliminated in 2016 and returned in 2021, the physical function key gave way to the Touch Bar in 2016, which also returned in 2021, and the glowing apple logo, absent from 2016, reappeared on the PROLED version in 2026.

Looking back 20 years, not all changes to the MacBook Pro are really useful for users. The Touch Bar or butterfly keyboard are the clearest examples, and Apple itself then had to return to the old way of doing things. But overall, the MacBook Pro is still a powerful, reliable computer, chosen by many people for jobs that require processing power and long-term stability. How about you guys, what year was your first MacBook Pro, and what milestone do you remember the most?