Apple is preparing what could be its largest iPhone redesign in almost ten years, with a radically redesigned mobile believed to be arriving in time for the iPhone’s 20th birthday in 2027.
Rumors indicate that Apple is moving toward a much more glass-oriented device with an almost all-screen design from edge to edge, possibly the largest visual overhaul since the iPhone X in 2017.
The iPhone X arrived at a time when Apple was beginning to adopt the design language centered on an edge-to-edge display, the elimination of the Home button, and Face ID. That simple formula has dictated the design of Apple flagship smartphones for many years. Now, Apple is said to want its 20 th anniversary device to do the same.
As reported citing Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is working on a ‘glass-centric’ iPhone that would incorporate glass on the front and back with the glass continuing around its edges. A thin metal band may stay around the middle of it but the final effect would be much closer to a single sheet of glass than the current generation of iPhones.
Display: one of the most highly touted features is the display. It is said that Apple is aiming for a camera and sensor cut outs that are less obvious- an almost complete wall-to-wall display that is smaller than the current one.
Curved glass and display edges could mimic the appearance of a borderless display, even if the display itself is flat. That would be a huge move forward from the present much revamped Dynamic Island. Rather than trying to make the camera and sensors less obvious, it seems Apple’s aim is to make them as unobtrusive as possible.
Any changes Apple makes to the iPhone does have a flow-on effect on wider designs in the smartphone industry in totalsomething which makes the reported 2027 redesign tempting to speculate about. After the iPhone X showed the way for the modern smartphone design at Apple, they have been working on perfecting rather than reinventing it.
The change on the horizon people say is the start of a three-year initiative to redefine the hardware design of the iPhone.
This plan started with the redesigned iPhone 17 Pro models and iPhone Air (and possibly larger iPhone models), will evolve with the foldable iPhone anticipated in 2026, and may conclude with the 20 th anniversary iPhone in 2027. Apple is also expected to be releasing its first foldable iPhone ahead of the anniversary model.
The foldable reportedly is coming alongside the iPhone 18 Pro family, pitting the company against two very different hardware experiments back-to-back.
Designing a mostly glass smartphone will be extremely difficult, in particular achieving the near bezel & cut-out free design. Apple has had manufacturing troubles with this device during development, and even conflicting reports from inside sources say that the most ambitious design was scrapped.
Still, Bloomberg had reported in August that the more comprehensive glass-heavy redesign was still due for 2027, although this more extreme idea of even more glass possibly was abandoned earlier.
