Bloomberg last month suggested that Apple is working on a 20th anniversary iPhone, which might represent the culmination of the company’s long-held ambition to create “a single slab of glass.”
Few details have been reported as yet, but a new supply-chain report claims that it will be totally bezel-free, using display tech being developed by Samsung and LG …
20th anniversary iPhone
Mark Gurman first reported plans for the 2027 device, to be unveiled two decades after the launch of the original iPhone. It wasn’t exactly a detailed report, comprising a single sentence.
The company is preparing a major shake-up for the iPhone’s 20-year anniversary, including a foldable version and a bold new Pro model that makes more extensive use of glass.
The phrase “more extensive use of glass” is as vague as can be. But describing it as a “bold” new model does suggest something rather more ambitious than simply even slimmer bezels.
Totally bezel-free design
Korean site ET News today reports that Apple’s suppliers are working on a “4-sided bending display technology,” which appears to describe a design where the glass bends around the sides on all four sides, completely removing all bezels from the front of the phone.
Effectively the bezels are relocated to the sides of the device, to be invisible from the front. The report also refers to an under-display camera, which would remove the need for a punch-hole cutout in the display.
It is known that Apple will start negotiations on the 20th anniversary iPhone display soon. We are going to have a meeting with Samsung Display and LG Display to decide the application technology […]
4-sided bending display technology are being developed, so it is noteworthy whether they will be finally commercialized […] UDC is to hide the camera under the screen, and the four-sided bending is the implementation of a full screen without a bezel.
All of that would indeed seem to fit the “single slab of glass” ambition described by former design chief Jony Ive. While Ive may now be part of Apple’s history, that vision of its future is believed to still be very much alive within the company.
Solid-state battery
The report also references a solid-state battery.
Pure silicon battery is a technology that can dramatically increase the energy density and increase the battery life by using 100% silicon instead of graphite as a cathode material.
Battery tech is one of those areas where we keep hearing promises of breakthrough technology that will dramatically increase battery life – but it never seems to actually materialize. However, solid-state batteries do seem to be finally changing that.
The first prototypes were developed back in 2017, and the tech finally landed this year. My colleague Fernando Silva tested a solid-state MagSafe battery pack just last week, and was impressed. So the idea of this tech being incorporated into an iPhone in 2027 is certainly entirely plausible.
9to5Mac’s Take
The original Bloomberg report was exceedingly vague, relying primarily on the word “bold” to suggest something significantly beyond the modest-paced evolutionary changes we’ve seen in recent years.
The 20th anniversary angle also creates expectations of something special. While Apple doesn’t typically make a big deal of product anniversaries – stating that the company prefers to look forward rather than back – it may or may not be coincidence that 2017 saw a whole new design language in the form of the iPhone X.
There’s no doubt that smartphone tech in general has plateaued, and that this is a problem for Apple. With only modest new developments each year, a lot of people are taking the attitude that they might as well just continue using their years-old model for a while yet.
As my colleague Ryan Christoffel noted last month, an end to this “boring era” does appear to be in sight. If reports are accurate, we can look forward to the ultra-slim iPhone 17 Air this year and the iPhone Fold next year. A “bold” new design in 2027 would continue that trend, so the idea is at least plausible.
However, it’s worth noting the ET News report suggests only that Apple’s main display suppliers are “developing” the tech to make possible the single slab of glass vision. Whether it will actually exist by 2027 is a whole other question.
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