The iPhone 15 is about a month and a half away now, and (of course) everyone is jumping back on the Apple hype bandwagon. And while we don’t expect Apple to come up with a complete redesign, it’s the prize that stands out this year iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models, which are now rumored to be the smartphones with the thinnest display bezels in 2023. One of the reasons this is an interesting event is that Apple has never really held this title before – not even with the edge-to-edge display on the iPhone X back in 2017 (when the Xiaomi Mi Mix had thinner screen edges), and certainly not with any iPhones before that. Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi and many more have pretty much always managed to outdo Cupertino in that regard, with the current record holder for the thinnest screen bezels being the Xiaomi 13. Of course, you could argue that screen bezels are thin enough today to make big phones feel as small as possible, but as Pooh would say, “more is more,” or for that matter, “less is less,” and no matter what anyone says, the “endgame” smartphone design will always be a full-screen phone , that makes it look and feel like you’re holding a piece of glass.
And although this phone certainly won’t be it iPhone 15 Pro thanks to the infamous Dynamic Island, a leak from South Korea suggests that Apple may already be working on the next big thing for Steve Jobs’ legendary invention, and (contrary to all rumors right now), I believe this phone is called the “iPhone XX “.
So let me tell you all about it. Or rather “nothing” considering all we have are rumours. But they’re fun anyway.
Leaks hint at Apple’s plan for what could be the “iPhone XX”: A crystal box made entirely of glass
According to Ice Universe (citing The Elec), Apple is now working on a “zero-bezel iPhone.” Insiders are confident that Cupertino has already asked Samsung Display and LG Display to start developing bezel-less OLED displays that will make the new iPhone look like a piece of glass.
In addition, Apple is also rumored to be developing a unibody glass construction that uses a new type of “ultra-strong glass.” The alleged zero-bezel iPhone “will look like a closed crystal box – a mobile phone from the future”, says Ice Universe, indicating that the new titanium frame will iPhone 15 The Pro may not be part of Apple’s long-term plan for the ultimate iPhone.
Backing up the latest leak from The Elec (via Ice Universe ), top display analyst Ross Young said last year that Apple plans to make the iPhone completely bezel-less in 2027, or in other words, when the iPhone 19 is due to be released (all three leaks are in currently agree with that rumor). Until 2027, Ross Young expects Apple to manage to hide Face ID under the screen of the iPhone 17 and iPhone 18, which should still have a smaller cutout for the selfie camera.
‘Ultra-strong’ iPhone XX could cost as much as $2,000 thanks to invisible glass construction – how will Apple pull it off?
What we know from phones that hide their selfie cameras under the screen (Galaxy Z Fold 5, a couple of ZTE and Xiaomi flagships) is that this can be done (even today), but not without drastically reducing the photo and video quality of selfie shooter. And of course, Apple isn’t one of those companies to launch phones with half-assed features/design elements, so you can bet Tim Cook & Co. will get it right on the first try.
According to leaker RGcloudS, Apple will use an “Eco² OLED/Pol-less display” under a “soft glass as strong as steel” to help hide the selfie camera and Face ID sensor on the “all-glass iPhone” .
Meanwhile, the “soft glass as strong as steel” part of the 2027 iPhone rumor sounds even more exciting, but we don’t know much about this technology right now – probably because it’s still years away.
That said, I remember reading about an “ultra-strong two-dimensional polymer material” that’s “stronger than steel and as light as plastic that can be easily mass-produced” about a year ago, and I’m now wondering , whether this could be the material that makes the “ultra-strong” glass construction of the iPhone 2027 possible. The MIT chemical engineers who developed the material actually said it could be used to make phones (among other things).
Leakster RGcloudS “wondered” whether the extremely complicated manufacturing process of an all-glass iPhone with no bezels and a 100% uninterrupted display will allow Apple to keep the price of the alleged iPhone (2027) under $2,000.
The iPhone X was the first smartphone to break the $1,000 price ceiling, and I don’t see why Apple wouldn’t dare to launch the alleged iPhone XX at $2,000. Keep in mind that this phone is currently in line to be released in 2027.
With the Apple Vision Pro out and the Apple Car rumored to arrive before 2028, will the iPhone XX be Tim Cook’s One Last Thing at Apple?
Finally, I’d like to explain why I think the alleged iPhone 2027 will actually be called “iPhone XX” instead of iPhone 19, as screen analyst Ross Young and tipster Ice Universe suggested.
The first and most obvious reason (which everyone seems to ignore) Apple will never make an iPhone named “iPhone 19” is that Tim Cook & Co. decided to skip what would have been the “iPhone 9” back in 2017. right up to what we know as the iPhone X (ten).
The other reason I think the all-glass iPhone will be the “iPhone XX” (whether it’s released in 2027 or 2028) is that this phone may very well “pave the way for (smartphone) technology for the next decade”. If this sounds familiar, it’s because those are the words from the legendary launch of the iPhone X in 2017. And just as the iPhone X completely changed the design and even the software experience of Apple’s flagships, the iPhone XX could do the same.
The first iPhone revolutionized a decade of technology and changed the world in the process. Now, ten years later, it is only fitting that we are here, in this place, on this day, to unveil a product that will set the stage for technology in the next decade.
Tim Cook, iPhone X announcement, September 2017
But with Apple’s groundbreaking Vision Pro headset already released (arguably the company’s biggest announcement since the original iPhone), and an Apple car rumored to arrive in 2026, the 2027-2028 iPhone XX may well be Tim Cook’s curtain call before he is ready to pass the torch to the next boss of Apple’s trillion-dollar empire. As far as we know right now (which means we don’t know much at all), this could be the hilarious Craig Federighi, or even… me. I will let you know how it goes.
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