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Apple Rumored to Redesign the iPhone Every Year Through to 2027

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Apple is reportedly preparing to implement significant iPhone hardware redesigns each year for the next three generations.

iPhone-Top-Left-Hole-Punch-Face-ID-Feature-2.5.jpg

According leaks from the Chinese supply chain disclosed by Weibo user "Digital Chat Station," Apple plans to carry out a series of phased industrial design changes affecting different parts of the iPhone across three consecutive years: 2025, 2026, and 2027. The changes are said to target the rear camera system, the front-facing components, and eventually the complete removal of visible sensors, leading to an uninterrupted full-screen experience.

The iPhone 17 is expected to launch in the fall as the first in this sequence of design shifts. Apple is widely expected to redesign the back of the device, with the most notable change being a new horizontal camera layout. The leak describes the move to a "horizontal large matrix lens decorative component." This change is set to be the first major update to the iPhone's rear camera module since the introduction of the iPhone 11 Pro.

In 2026, attention will reportedly turn to the front of the device. Apple is expected to remove the Dynamic Island, the pill-shaped cutout that houses the front camera and Face ID components introduced on the iPhone 14 Pro, and replace it with a single circular punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera. The hardware for Face ID will be hidden beneath the display.

By 2027, Apple is reportedly seeking a fully uninterrupted screen with no visible cutouts, holes, or notches of any kind. This will involve integrating both the Face ID system and the selfie camera beneath the display, resulting in a true so-called "full-screen" iPhone.

The post does not mention whether these design changes will be limited to the Pro models or extend to the entire iPhone lineup. Historically, Apple has introduced new display and camera technologies on its high-end models before bringing them to the standard iPhones in subsequent years. The Dynamic Island, for example, debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022 before being added to the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus in 2023.

Article Link: Apple Rumored to Redesign the iPhone Every Year Through to 2027
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/27/apple-rumored-to-redesign-iphone-until-2027/
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matt_and_187_like_this said:
My 12 Pro Max is 5 years old, looks and performs just as good as the latest. Now the're targeting the looks because none of these features will make a significant difference.
Click to expand...

I'm sure Apple was hoping Apple Intelligence would have been that feature to push people on older phones to upgrade. Maybe ios19 will bring someone worth upgrading for.
 
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I mean....design something that people actually want.

- Lighter iphone, not thinner. No one want to break the iphone because it's too thin. The phone is getting heavier every single version.
- Better battery life. Not thinner that lead to smaller battery. And then not adding another external battery on that thinner phone so that it will have the same battery life as the last generation, this is plain stupid.
- Hide the camera under the screen.
- Bring back touch id under the screen.
- Make the iphone actually able to sit horizontally on a desk, yea that camera on the back.
- Chatgpt like Siri that would be able to interact with the phone
- Allow Music app to display a language other than the phone language just like almost every single app is able to. Or at least allow Music app to display the original language of the song and the singer, not some bizzare translation in English.
 
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matt_and_187_like_this said:
My 12 Pro Max is 5 years old, looks and performs just as good as the latest. At least it looks older then because none of these gimmicks will make a significant difference and you'll forget about them on day 1.
Click to expand...
Do you have an iPhone 16 Pro Max? How do you know your 5 year old 12PM is "just as good as the latest"?
I had a 13 PM and now have a 16PM and the 16PM is better.
 
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iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s
iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s and iPhone SE 2016
iPhone 6/6 Plus and iPhone 6s/6s Plus
iPhone 8 and iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone SE 2022
iPhone X and iPhone XS
iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 and iPhone 15
iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro/Pro Max

So are they finally going to use an entirely different design and not reuse an existing one?
 
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DEMinSoCAL said:
Do you have an iPhone 16 Pro Max? How do you know your 5 year old 12PM is "just as good as the latest"?
I had a 13 PM and now have a 16PM and the 16PM is better.
Click to expand...
I'd say the iPhone 13 Pro Max is almost perfect since it is not using USB Type C, it would be perfect if it did.

The other features introduced in newer releases are mostly software related while a few were hardware related.
 
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Hmmmm, I remember when the Samsung Galaxy S10 came out with a corner camera and the whole Apple world said how stupid that was.

Funnily I quite liked that corner camera as I would often have video calls with the video in PiP mode, in the camera corner, so I'd be always looking at the camera… and it let me see/do other stuff very easily. Its a really easy way to do that. I don't like the centre camera at all as, at least in Android, the PiP image won't let me centre it under the camera. It'll either go to the left or the right… hene liking the offset camera position. So now I'm either looking off to the side at the PiP image else down at the full screen image.
 
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What I would like in an iPhone Pro is a device that is slightly lighter, with a bit more battery life than I have now, with a much higher max screen brightness than we have today. I would also really like the matte glass style that Samsung uses in the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Frankly, I don’t give a damn what the camera layout looks like, and I don’t care very much whether it’s a Dynamic Island or a hole punch or nothing at all. Apple cares a lot about the cosmetic updates and I fear that they lose sight of the more practical enhancements.
 
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SanderEvers said:
Now also add underscreen touch-id and I'm happy. I'll wait until they finished "upgrading" the design.
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One important aspect of Touch ID to me is the tactile experience, that you can basically grab it and adjust your grip blindly. Underscreen fingerprint sensors are localized, meaning that you have to place your finger at a specific location of the screen, and since there is no tactile feedback, you have to look at the screen to place your finger correctly. For me that defeats much of the benefit of Touch ID over Face ID.
 
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I kinda wish they shifted to having just two iPhone models, released updates only every other year and made them fully user repairable etc. With that longer lasting hardware, shift focus to the software experience. Let users pay for AI and movie subscriptions in whatever combination they want if that makes this a more sustainable business model. I hate subscriptions, but I also think yearly hardware releases are unsustainable and unnecessary and Apple depends on them too much.
 
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winxmac said:
iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s
iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s and iPhone SE 2016
iPhone 6/6 Plus and iPhone 6s/6s Plus
iPhone 8 and iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone SE 2022
iPhone X and iPhone XS
iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 and iPhone 15
iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro/Pro Max

So are they finally going to use an entirely different design and not reuse an existing one?
Click to expand...

  • iPhone 6/6 Plus and iPhone 6s/6s Plus and iPhone 7/7 Plus and iPhone 8 and iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone SE 2022
  • iPhone X and XS and 11
  • iPhone 12 and 13 and 14 and 15 and 16

There, fixed it for you.
 
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As tempting as waiting for that 2027 iPhone would be, I suspect it will end up being an even higher tier than the Pros, so like an “Ultra”.

I refuse to step up to an even higher tier than Pro. It worked back in the iPhone X days.

I suspect I won’t be the only one who feels this way.
 
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