Apple could be preparing one of the most dramatic iPhone redesigns in its history, with a 20th anniversary model that appears to eliminate screen bezels entirely.
It seems Apple users won’t have to go with the upcoming folding iPhone to get an iOS handset with an innovative design.
20th anniversary iPhone might make bezels disappear
The original iPhone debuted in 2007, and with a big anniversary coming up, Apple apparently plans to use this as an opportunity to introduce significant changes to the design of its flagship smartphone.
A recent post from leaker Ice Universe, shared on X, claims the 2027 iPhone will seemingly lack the screen bezels — the black lines around the display — that are a feature of current models. The goal is a fully immersive, all-screen experience.
However, according to the post, Apple is unlikely to adopt the kind of aggressively curved “waterfall” displays seen on older Android phones. Instead, the device will use a “sophisticated combination of optical refraction, light guiding structures, and carefully engineered visual illusion,” reports Ice Universe.
The goal is “a display where the bezel nearly disappears from sight, while edge viewing remains natural and undisturbed,” claims the tipster. “It flows like liquid, yet stays as pure and transparent as glass.”
Apple likely won’t use a traditional curved glass screen because while Android phones with these look striking in marketing photos, they cause enough real-world problems that most manufacturers quietly backed away from them. The curved glass distorts what’s shown, they’re more fragile and cases don’t easily fit on phones with this type of screen.
Apple’s goal is apparently to create the illusion of a bezel-less design for the 20th anniversary iPhone without the hassles. If successful, the result would be a device that feels like pure glass in the hand — less a phone with a screen, and more a screen that happens to be a phone.
To be clear, there’ve been rumors that the device would lack bezels before, but the new report from Ice Universe has more detail than any previous one.
Another major change in the 2027 iPhone
The 20th anniversary iPhone might break new ground for Apple in other ways. Most notably, its front-facing camera will supposedly be under the display.
The iPhone X brought in Apple’s first screen cutout, and the 20th anniversary model might be the end of it. The 2007 model allegedly won’t need a Dynamic Island at all.
With the device not expected for more than a year, there’s plenty of time for speculation on whether it’ll be called iPhone 19, iPhone 20 or iPhone XX.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
