iPhone 20th Anniversary: Foldable iPhone and All-Glass Design
Apple’s 20th anniversary of the iPhone could bring one of the most significant design changes in the product’s history.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on two anniversary iPhone designs for 2027: a foldable iPhone and a more radical all-glass iPhone built around the concept of a device that appears to be a single continuous sheet of glass.
Both designs would represent major departures from Apple’s current iPhone form factor and could introduce new approaches to displays, cameras, biometric authentication, and industrial design.
📱 iPhone Flip #
The first anniversary model is expected to be a foldable iPhone, informally referred to as the iPhone Flip. The device has been the subject of extensive speculation and leaks, with reports suggesting that Apple has moved beyond early experimentation and into production preparation.
One of the most significant engineering challenges for any foldable smartphone is the visible crease created where the display repeatedly folds. Reports indicate that Apple has made substantial progress in reducing the crease, potentially bringing the result much closer to a conventional flat-panel display.
Foldable display design #
Apple’s reported design uses a large inward-folding display, allowing the device to function as a conventional smartphone when closed and expand into a larger tablet-like display when opened.
Current prototype dimensions reportedly include:
- External display: approximately 5.49 inches
- Internal display: approximately 7.74 inches
- Fold direction: inward
- Primary objective: provide a larger display without significantly increasing the device’s footprint when closed
The engineering challenge extends beyond the display itself. A production foldable iPhone would require Apple to solve problems involving hinge durability, display reliability, thickness, battery packaging, thermal management, and the mechanical integration of multiple components into a much more constrained enclosure.
🪟 iPhone XX and the All-Glass Design #
The second anniversary device is considerably more ambitious. Rather than focusing on a folding mechanism, Apple is reportedly exploring a “glass form factor” designed around the idea of an iPhone that feels like a single continuous sheet of glass.
The concept echoes a long-standing industrial-design vision associated with former Apple design chief Jony Ive: minimizing visible hardware boundaries and making the device appear to be formed from one uninterrupted material.
A display that wraps around the edges #
The design reportedly aims to eliminate conventional bezels almost entirely. The front of the device would be dominated by the display, while the glass would continue around the sides of the enclosure.
Apple has already explored related techniques in products such as the Apple Watch, where display and glass construction can visually conceal portions of the bezel. The anniversary iPhone could push this approach much further.
Interestingly, the display itself would reportedly remain flat, rather than using a conventional curved display panel. The glass would instead curve around the edges of the device, with those curved sections functioning primarily as a visual and industrial-design element rather than an active display surface.
This distinction would allow Apple to create the appearance of a curved, bezel-free device without requiring the entire display panel to bend around the sides.
Under-display camera and Face ID #
Another major objective is reportedly the elimination of visible display cutouts.
If Apple can successfully integrate both the front-facing camera and Face ID components beneath the display, the anniversary iPhone could achieve a genuinely uninterrupted screen without a Dynamic Island or other visible camera opening.
Achieving this would require significant advances in display transparency, image processing, infrared sensing, and under-display optical technology.
The challenge is particularly demanding for Face ID because the system requires infrared components and sensors to operate reliably through the display stack. The front-facing camera must also maintain sufficient image quality despite having additional layers of display material between the camera and the outside world.
🔤 Why “iPhone XX”? #
Because these devices are intended to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the iPhone, the naming could depart from Apple’s conventional numerical progression.
The original iPhone launched in 2007, making 2027 the product’s 20th anniversary. Rather than simply following the expected numerical naming sequence, Apple could use an anniversary-oriented name inspired by the iPhone X, which marked the tenth anniversary of the original iPhone.
For that reason, “iPhone XX” has emerged as an informal nickname for the rumored anniversary model.
Whether Apple ultimately uses this name remains unknown. The “iPhone XX” designation should therefore be treated as a speculative label rather than a confirmed product name.
🏭 Manufacturing Challenges #
The two anniversary designs would introduce substantially more manufacturing complexity than Apple’s current iPhone lineup.
The foldable model requires precision manufacturing for its hinge, flexible display, internal structure, and battery system. The all-glass model presents a different set of challenges, particularly around glass shaping, display integration, component miniaturization, and the implementation of under-display sensors.
Bloomberg has described the design and manufacturing processes for these anniversary products as extraordinarily complex.
Why China remains important #
Given the complexity of these designs, initial production would likely depend heavily on Apple’s established manufacturing ecosystem in China.
China offers several advantages for a product of this complexity:
- A mature smartphone component supply chain
- Extensive display and glass manufacturing capabilities
- Large-scale precision manufacturing capacity
- Experienced assembly partners
- Established relationships between component suppliers and Apple’s manufacturing partners
For a completely new iPhone form factor, Apple’s existing supply-chain infrastructure provides a significant advantage during the transition from prototype engineering to mass production.
🚀 A Major iPhone Design Milestone #
The iPhone’s 20th anniversary could therefore be more than another annual hardware refresh.
The rumored foldable iPhone would represent Apple’s entry into a fundamentally different device architecture, while the all-glass iPhone would pursue a more ambitious interpretation of Apple’s long-running minimalist design philosophy.
If both products reach mass production, 2027 could become one of the most important years in the iPhone’s design history since the introduction of the original iPhone and the iPhone X.
For now, however, the reported specifications, naming, and final designs remain subject to change until Apple officially announces its 20th-anniversary iPhone lineup.