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," Apple needs to do even better, and rumors suggest that the company has some big ideas that it's aiming for.
Apple wants to create an all-glass iPhone that doesn't have cutouts in the display, so there could be a high-end iPhone 19 Pro model that fulfills that requirement. Apple wants a true edge-to-edge display
Design
The 20th anniversary iPhone that Apple is planning for 2027 could feature a radical design, offering a display that has no visible frame or bezels. An early rumor suggests that Apple is aiming for a display that curves around all four edges of the device, for a borderless visual experience.
Apple wants a mostly glass iPhone with a curved display and no cutouts, which would necessitate under-display Face ID and an under-display camera.
An all-glass iPhone with a wraparound display that covers all four edges of the device would be less durable than current iPhone models that have titanium or aluminum frames, so Apple may need to come up with more durable glass before such a device is a possibility.
While multiple rumors have suggested the 20th anniversary iPhone will feature under-display Face ID and a design with no cutouts, display analyst Ross Young does not believe under-display Face ID and an under-display camera will come until 2030. Without both components under the display, the 20th anniversary would not have an all-glass look.
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.
Name
Technically, the 20th anniversary iPhone lineup would be the iPhone 19 lineup, but in 2017, Apple released a surprise "iPhone X" alongside the iPhone 8 models. This year, Apple could have similar plans for the high-end device, though what it might be called is unclear.
Apple could decide to call it the iPhone 20, like the decision it made for the iPhone X in 2017, or the company could stick with the iPhone 19 naming. Alternatively, the all-display device could have an entirely new name, like iPhone Ultra.
The iPhone that Apple has planned could be a replacement for the iPhone Pro models, or it could be sold alongside them. With plans for a foldable iPhone in 2026, though, it may not make sense to add yet another phone to the lineup.
Launch Date
The 20th anniversary iPhone would presumably come out in the fall of 2027.
