2027 will mark the 20th anniversary of the iPhone and Apple is planning to celebrate with an all-new iPhone design. With the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, Apple unveiled the all-display iPhone X with no bezels at the top or the bottom for the camera or the Touch ID home button. It marked the debut of Face ID, and dictated the next decade of iPhone design.
For the "iPhone XX," rumors suggest that Apple might do even better.
Apple is working on a high-end curved glass iPhone that has limited or no cutouts in the display. Apple originally wanted an all-glass design, but that was apparently not feasible so it will have an aluminum frame.
Name
Apple released the iPhone 18 Pro in 2026, so the iPhone 19 would be the next logical step, but Apple might skip it.
In 2017, Apple released both the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X with no iPhone 9, and in 2027, we'll probably transition from the iPhone 18 to the iPhone 20, the iPhone XX, or whatever else Apple decides to call the anniversary iPhone.
Design
Apple is developing a display that curves down around all four edges of the device for slimmer bezels. There would be no bezels or super slim bezels with a display that curves down around all four corners of the phone, with a metal band in the middle.
Samsung did displays with curved edges for its Galaxy smartphones for several years, but its designs were never entirely bezel-free. Samsung ditched the curved look with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Apple is actually using a Samsung-manufactured display for the 20th anniversary iPhone. The device will use micro-curved OLED displays that are brighter and thinner than existing OLED panels. Samsung is making Apple an equal-depth quad-curved panel, and the "micro-curve" portion will keep the curve shallow, so it won't be as aggressive as some prior Samsung designs.
Apple also asked Samsung to remove the polarizer layer that sits on top of most OLED displays. Instead, Apple will adopt Samsung tech called Color Filter on Encapsulation, which applies the color filter directly on the encapsulation layer of the display to reduce overall thickness and let more light through.
Screen Size
The 2027 iPhone models could have a larger display size. Apple is rumored to be prototyping one 6.41-inch display for the Pro iPhone, and one 6.96-inch display for the larger Pro Max.
Current Pro iPhones have a 6.3-inch display, while Apple uses a 6.9-inch display for the Pro Max.
Haptic Buttons
Apple is again rumored to be working on a solid state button system, this time for the 20th anniversary iPhone. The solid state buttons could replace the current mechanical buttons, providing haptic feedback to mimic a button press.
The device will allegedly feature solid state buttons with haptic feedback for the Side button, volume buttons, Action button, and Camera Control button. Haptic-based buttons cut down on mechanical wear, and provide differentiation between a light press and a more firm press to trigger different functions.
The buttons could be integrated directly into the device's frame, with no actual physical movement when pressed. The buttons will feel like real buttons, though, similar to the trackpad on the MacBook Pro. Solid state buttons could also improve water resistance.
Apple could blend the haptic buttons into the curved edges of the device, making them nearly invisible. The buttons have passed Apple's tests for use when wearing gloves, with a case, and in extreme temperatures.
Display
Apple is planning to use a brighter, thinner OLED panel for the 20th anniversary iPhone. Rumors suggest that Apple will adopt Samsung OLED displays with Color Filter on Encapsulation (COE) technology. COE displays remove the polarizing film from an OLED panel, applying the color filter directly onto the encapsulation layer of the display.
The technique reduces the thickness of the overall display stack, and it lets more light through to improve brightness while reducing power draw. Reflections are harder to deal with when there's no polarizing film. With deeply curved edges, Apple also plans to add a crater-shaped light diffusion layer that will provide uniform brightness across the display.
Face ID
To make the all-glass design happen, Apple needs to get rid of the Dynamic Island and the cutout for the front-facing camera. Rumors are mixed on whether that's going to happen.
Display analyst Ross Young said that Apple won't have under-display Face ID ready to go for a 2027 iPhone, but other leakers think it's possible. If Apple can't get everything under the display, we may see under-display Face ID and then a small hole-punch cutout on the front for the front-facing camera. Young does not believe that a notch-free all-screen iPhone will launch until 2030.
Battery
Apple is developing new battery technology that could make it into the 2027 iPhone models. Apple is looking into using pure silicon anode batteries, which are able to store more lithium ions per gram than current batteries, resulting in significant increases in battery life without major increases in battery size.
RAM
Apple could use advanced AI memory technology for the 2027 iPhone models. Apple is rumored to be considering Mobile High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), a type of DRAM that stacks memory chips vertically and connects them through tiny vertical interconnects to boost signal transmission speeds.
In smartphones, the technology would provide high data throughput while minimizing power consumption and the physical footprint of RAM dies.
Rear Camera
Apple might adopt a custom HDR sensor for better dynamic range for the Fusion camera.
The upgraded sensor would be able to capture detail in bright highlights and dark shadows in a single frame, for up to 20 stops of dynamic range. That would be comparable to a high-end cinematic camera.
An Apple-Designed Modem Chip
Apple debuted the latest C2 modem chip in the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo, and the 20th anniversary model could get an even better version of Apple's modem technology.
A-Series Chip
Apple transitioned to smaller, faster, and more efficient 2-nanometer chips with the iPhone 18 Pro, but the 20th anniversary models would likely use a second-generation 2-nanometer chip.
Apple chipmaker TSMC is already working on a 1.4-nanometer node, but it won't be ready until 2028 at the earliest.
Launch Date
The 20th anniversary iPhone would presumably come out in the fall of 2027.
![Apple Pulls Keynote, Pages and Numbers From App Store [Update: Back]](https://images.macrumors.com/t/Okb7kitB_gNr6qe5Pex9nQIysD8=/112x112/article-new/2026/01/Apple-Creator-Studio-iWork-suite.jpg)
