[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] Apple is expected to unveil a MacBook Pro with a redesigned look for the first time in five years.

According to IT outlet 9to5Mac on Oct. 22 (local time), the new MacBook Pro is expected to keep the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips as the current model. It is also expected to seek differentiation through a lighter body, display improvements, the addition of touch functions and changes to the front design.

The biggest change is expected to be weight. The device may end up only slightly thinner than the current model, but reducing the body weight is seen as the key to the new design.

The port configuration is also expected to be largely maintained. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said of concerns about reducing ports, "Apple would have learned lessons from the previous generation." With the design not expected to become excessively thin, port changes could also be limited.

The display could shift to OLED, reports said. That would broaden the range of devices using it to iPhones, iPad Pros and MacBook Pros. Apple introduced tandem OLED in the iPad Pro in 2024 and described it as the "world's most advanced display." The MacBook Pro is expected to use OLED to raise screen quality by another step.

The adoption of a touchscreen is also cited as a major change. The new MacBook Pro is expected to support touch input across the OLED panel, and macOS Golden Gate is expected to see feature improvements tailored to touch. It would keep the keyboard and trackpad as the main input tools, while offering a secondary option to directly manipulate the screen for certain tasks.

On the front, the notch could disappear. Reports point to the possibility that Apple could remove the notch introduced in the 2021 redesign and adopt a hole-punch approach that leaves only a camera cutout. It has been reported that Apple is considering removing the notch starting with the Pro lineup, as it did with the iPhone.

The possible adoption of Dynamic Island has also been raised, but the feature could be offered to older Macs through a software update. As a result, it is unclear whether it would be a differentiator unique to the new MacBook Pro.

This revamp is expected to focus more on changes in user experience than on chip performance. By keeping the same family of chips as the current model, while emphasizing weight reduction, display improvements and touch input, it could draw replacement demand, according to the report. In particular, how much Apple can cut weight while keeping the ports is cited as a factor that could determine competitiveness.