Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone Will Bet on a Curved-Glass, Near-Bezeless Display Instead of New Screen Tech

Apple will keep a unique curved-glass, near-bezeless design for its 20th-anniversary iPhone, according to new reports. A new source says Apple has reportedly favoured a unique design over advanced display technologies like COE and LTPO+. The phone is expected to launch next year, twenty years after the original iPhone arrived in 2007. None of this has been confirmed by Apple — it is a report from sources, and the details could still change before the phone is announced. The photo with this article shows a current iPhone's near-bezeless display — the anniversary phone does not exist yet, so no photo of it can exist.

Design first, new screen tech second

The report says Apple chose the look of the phone over the newest display technology. COE, or colour filter on encapsulation, and LTPO+ are advanced display technologies that could have brought a thinner panel and a more efficient screen. Apple reportedly passed on them for this device, and the memory crisis is said to be behind that call. Memory prices have been climbing across the industry as AI data centres buy up supply, and Apple has already warned that higher memory costs will weigh on its holiday-quarter margins. The report also says Apple is still seeking better display technologies, so the door is not fully closed on a display upgrade.

What a curved-glass, near-bezeless iPhone would mean

A curved-glass, near-bezeless design would make the screen the whole story of the phone — glass wrapping around the edges with almost no visible border. It would be a fitting choice for an anniversary model: the original iPhone's big idea was a screen that took over the front of the phone, and a near-bezeless design would be the most extreme version of that idea yet. It would also be a design-first statement at a time when Apple's rivals are competing on cameras, batteries and AI features. A separate tipster claim in the same report says the anniversary iPhone will launch next year without an Action Button, with the button's functions folded into the Camera Control button — a single tap to open the camera, a long press for the assigned action. That detail is also unconfirmed.

Sources

• Gadgets360 — Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone Said to Favour Unique Display Over Advanced Technology