William Gallagher
A new report claims that Apple is planning to mark the 20th anniversary of the iPhone with a significant redesign, but perhaps not as dramatically different as it did for the iPhone X in 2017.
While it's rumored that iOS 19 will feature a dramatic redesign, Apple's next iPhone is expected to physically resemble the current iPhone 16 range — except for the rear cameras. Now a new report from Bloomberg claims that Apple is gearing up for a significant iPhone redesign for the models released in 2027.
"[The] the company is preparing a major shake-up for the iPhone's 20-year anniversary," it says, "including a foldable version and a bold new Pro model that makes more extensive use of glass."
For the 10th anniversary of the iPhone in 2017, Apple launched the iPhone X which most noticeably shed the famous home button for an all-glass display. It was the first iPhone to cost more than $1,000, and Tim Cook was correct when he said that it would "set the path for technology for the next decade."
As that decade nears its close, the claim is that Apple is looking to launch a similarly major redesign. It seems unlikely to fundamentally change how people use the iPhone in the way that the iPhone X required users to adapt to a new way of interacting with the device.
But the greater use of glass may fit with current rumors that the iPhone 17 Pro will at least increase how much of the chassis is made of glass. It arguably also fits with how iOS 19 has variously been rumored to introduce a new glass-like design.
That glass iOS rumor, though, is specifically about the iOS 19 release which is due to be announced at WWDC in June 2025. Similarly, the iPhone 17 Pro will be launched in September 2025, not 2027.
It seems implausible that Apple would slowly introduce a new hardware and software design over the course of the iPhone 17, iPhone 18, iPhone 19, and iPhone 20 releases. But there have separately been rumors that Apple is planning an all-glass iPhone for the future.
That said, Apple was also rumored to be planning an all-glass iPhone as far back as 2017 — the year of the iPhone's 10th anniversary.
The claim about Apple using the 20th anniversary to launch its expected iPhone Fold does fit previous rumors of a release date — or at least how those release rumors keep being pushed back. Most recently, analyst Jeff Pu claimed that the iPhone fold, and a folding iPad, would be released in 2026.
That backed up certain other rumors. But sources such as analyst Ming-Chi Kuo have been adamant that Apple will release an iPhone fold — in 2024.
So a delay to 2027 would be unsurprising — though Apple has been said to be planning a foldable MacBook Pro for then.
If Apple is indeed planning a redesign for the 20th anniversary iPhone, then it will presumably be unveiled in September 2027. Although that would then mean Apple introducing a folding iPhone eight years after Samsung's first Galaxy Fold.
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Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
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21 Comments
The article starts off with a typo saying “as it did for the X in 2007”. We all should know iPhone X was made in 2017. Probably going to keep my iPhone 15 until the 20th anniversary phone comes out. Maybe we’ll finally have underscreen fingerprint option by then. Or maybe Apple never will, lol.
Educated guesses from way beyond sell date Gurman? No tbanks.
The folding phone is nothing but hype.
With all the hype and wishful thinking about the foldable iPhone, no one has ever answered the question of how are you supposed to hold it next to your ear to answer calls on such a device, do you need to fold it closed first before answering the call or hold it open like an iPad mini next to your ear, how awkward would that be? Imagine taking such a call while walking your dog in a park and the look on the faces of others walking by !