Bloomberg reports that Apple is planning two 20th-anniversary edition iPhones, signaling a radical overhaul with a release in an entirely new form factor in 2027.
iPhone Flip #
The first of these is the foldable screen iPhone Flip, which has been the subject of numerous leaks this year.
News indicates that Apple has entered the production preparation phase for the foldable iPhone. Furthermore, Apple has significantly improved the crease issue on the foldable screen, bringing it close to an “ideal” level.
Apple’s initial foldable screen design features a large inward fold. Current samples show an external screen of 5.49 inches and an internal screen that expands to 7.74 inches.
iPhone XX #
The second 20th-anniversary product is a “glass form factor” device, embodying the vision of former Apple design director Jony Ive to create an iPhone that feels “like a single sheet of glass.”
Specifically, this iPhone aims to completely eliminate bezels, with the front entirely dominated by the screen, and the glass panel seamlessly wrapping around the sides of the phone. Last year’s Apple Watch 10 achieved a preliminary design where the bezels are concealed beneath the glass, though the effect is not yet perfect.
Counterintuitively, this iPhone will feature a flat screen but with rounded corners. The screen’s curvature will “flow around the edges,” with the curved portions serving purely as a decorative element without any display functionality.
Additionally, this model may fully integrate under-display camera and under-display Face ID technology, effectively eliminating any screen cutouts and achieving a true edge-to-edge display.
As a series of products marking the 20th anniversary, it might skip the “19” naming convention and adopt a naming scheme similar to the iPhone X, with netizens jokingly referring to it as the iPhone XX.
Given that these two 20th-anniversary iPhones represent a significant departure from previous product plans, Bloomberg describes their design and manufacturing processes as “extraordinarily complex.”
Considering the technological and manufacturing complexities, Apple’s initial production will need to be carried out in China, leveraging the mature domestic supply chain and manufacturing expertise.