Apple will significantly redesign the iPhone for its upcoming 20th anniversary in 2027, and these models are reportedly “extraordinarily complex.”
Mark Gurman reported in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg that the 20th anniversary redesign of the iPhone will require brand new parts and production techniques, posing new engineering challenges.
This isn’t the only iPhone surprise Apple has up its sleeve for 2027. According to the rumor-mill, Apple will also release its first-ever foldable iPhone and introduce a “bold” new iPhone Pro model that will allegedly make more extensive use of glass.
Rumor: 20th anniversary iPhone is “extraordinarily complex”
Gurman’ mentions this in brief passing while discussing Apple’s latest supply chin moves. As you probably heard, Apple has been trying to shift iPhone production to India from China due to the latest tariffs the Trump administration imposed on China.
But even if Apple does move the bulk of US-bound iPhone manufacturing to India, it almost certainly won’t cover everything. Apple is working on two major new iPhone models for the device’s 20-year anniversary (the original model was announced at the start of 2007 and released later in the year, so there’s a little wiggle room around the timing of its birthday). That includes the company’s first foldable and a new, more glass-centric Pro model. The idea that Apple would want to build those devices outside of its China comfort zone is slim, at least at the outset.
The Financial Times claims that Apple has an ambitious plan to assemble all iPhones sold in the United States in India by the end of 2026. Here’s a bit where Gurman mentions the supposedly complex design of the 20th anniversary iPhone.
While Apple’s manufacturing in India has reached parity with China in terms of current iPhone quality, the 20-year anniversary models are extraordinarily complex. They’ll require new parts and production techniques, making it far from a certainty that Apple will be able to build those outside of China. At some point, yes, but certainly not by the year 2027.
Apple is almost certainly not going to call its 2027 smartphone lineup “20th anniversary” or anything like that. Before the iPhone X was unveiled in 2017, everyone was talking about the “10th anniversary iPhone” and speculating Apple would hold some great celebration of the milestone.
What we got was another regular iPhone announcement, only the phone itself was significantly redesigned around a fullscreen appearance with Touch ID, and marketed as “iPhone X” instead of “iPhone 9” (which was never introduced in the first place).