Apple reportedly plans to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the iPhone with a new model that introduces some of the most significant design changes to the handset since the iPhone X. That includes saying goodbye to the Dynamic Island.
The upcoming model should break the iPhone design out of the rut it’s been in for too many years.
20th anniversary iPhone is on Apple’s drawing board
Apple likes to make a big deal out of anniversaries. There’s no better example than 1997’s Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, which was a vision for the desktop computer of the future. 2017’s iPhone X, which launched a decade after Apple’s original handset, dropped the Home button to make room for a much larger display, and paved the way for iPhone design for years to come.
The switch from the screen notch to the Dynamic Island in 2022 was an improvement, but not a revamp. As a result, eight years after the iPhone X, each new iOS model still looks much like one that came out in 2017.
Fortunately, multiple reports point to a real redesign coming with the 20th anniversary iPhone. And they agree that its front-facing camera will be under the display, so the Dynamic Island won’t be necessary.
One of those sources is ETnews, which reported Wednesday that Apple is prepping an under-display camera for the 20th anniversary iPhone. And Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported over the weekend that the anniversary iPhone will come “without any cutouts in the display.”
And that won’t be the only change. ETnews mentioned a “4-sided bending display,” while Bloomberg described the handset as “a mostly glass, curved iPhone.”
Gurman summed up the 20th anniversary iPhone Wednesday on X by saying, “The idea is an all-screen, curved device with the sensors built into the display (no notches). It’s called the ‘glasswing’ internally because of its display and design.”
But not until 2027
The original iPhone debuted in 2007, so it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the 20th anniversary iPhone won’t be on the market before 2027. Fortunately, there’ll be new models that breaks the iPhone X mold before then.
Most of the details of the iPhone 17 series coming this autumn already leaked out. The standout model is rumored to be the iPhone 17 Air, the thinnest handset ever from Apple. But the real change is expected in 2026. That’s when the first iPhone with a foldable display supposedly hits the market.
Still, those who want a more traditional iOS device that doesn’t look like a knockoff of the iPhone X can anticipate the 20th anniversary of the iPhone in 2027. That’ll give plenty of time for speculation on whether it’ll be called iPhone 18, iPhone 20 or iPhone XX.
