Apple’s 20th iPhone anniversary may not arrive with a one-off birthday model after all. According to fresh leaks, the company is instead preparing a major redesign of the iPhone Pro family, with a display that curves around all four edges and a front camera system that could shrink dramatically or disappear under the panel.
That would be a very Apple way to celebrate a milestone: not by slapping a special badge on the box, but by changing the thing people actually touch every day. It also fits the broader pattern in the lineup, which has been in motion for years – first the Plus giving way to a slimmer Air, and now talk of an Ultra model later this year.
A curved display, not a standalone anniversary phone
The newest claim comes from analyst Jeff Pu, who says Apple is still aiming the 20th-anniversary upgrade at the Pro side of the iPhone range. His version of events lines up with earlier comments from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who had already described a radically new Pro model that would use more glass. The difference is that Pu now points to a device with a display ”curved on four sides,” which is a far more aggressive design move than Apple usually makes.
If that sounds familiar, it should. Smartphone makers have spent years chasing the same holy grail: less bezel, more screen, and a selfie camera that gets out of the way. Samsung and others have tested pieces of that formula; Apple, as usual, seems willing to wait until it can do the whole thing at once – or at least sell the idea that it can.
Under-display camera work is the real fight
Pu also says work continues on front cameras embedded under the display. That matters more than the curve itself, because a truly clean front face would be the kind of visual reset Apple loves to unveil on stage. The current setup, with its cutout and camera hardware, is practical but hardly futuristic.
Apple has spent years sanding down the iPhone’s visual quirks, from the home button era to today’s notch-and-cutout compromises. A four-sided curved panel plus an under-display camera would be the boldest version of that effort yet – and a direct challenge to Android rivals that have been chasing ”all-screen” phones for a long time.
What the 20th-anniversary iPhone could look like
- Model: iPhone Pro line, not necessarily a separate anniversary edition
- Display: curved around four sides
- Front camera: smaller cutout or possibly under-display
- Timing: the 20th iPhone, arriving in the second half of the year
The open question is how far Apple is willing to push the hardware without making the phone awkward to use. Curved screens can look dramatic in a keynote and annoying in a pocket, and under-display cameras still tend to trade image quality for aesthetics. My guess: Apple won’t ship a gimmick. It will ship something expensive, polished, and just conservative enough to keep the purists quiet.