Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Still Planning 'Glass-Centric' iPhone Redesign for 2027

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster


Aiming to refute a report from Jefferies analyst Edison Lee earlier today that claimed Apple's all-glass iPhone planned for the device's 20th anniversary next year has been canceled, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that the "glass-centric" redesign remains on track for 2027.

iphone-20-anniversary.jpg

Gurman says that the 20th-anniversary iPhone will make heavy use of glass, with the front and rear wrapping around the edges to sandwich a thin metal band.
The company expects to launch iPhone Pro models next year that will make use of a new glassy look, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the work is confidential. Glass is used on the front and back of the phones — known internally as V73 and V74 — and the material will curve into the sides of the devices, with a metal band in the middle.
Click to expand...
Gurman does mention a "more aspirational version" that "used even more glass," but says that design "was scrapped early on" in the development cycle.

It's possible that this more ambitious design is the one Lee was referring to in today's report, but Gurman implies that it was discarded some time ago, rather than being a more recent development as Lee had suggested.

Lee's report also appeared to suggest that the all-glass design would have been for an all-new model, saying the Jefferies analysts believed Apple's plan was to "extend the all-glass features to future iPhone Pro and Pro Max models," but we have not heard anything about such a potential additional model in quite some time. All recent rumors have been pointing toward the glass-heavy design already being for the Pro and Pro Max models in next year's lineup.

Article Link: Apple Still Planning 'Glass-Centric' iPhone Redesign for 2027
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/10/glass-centric-iphone-still-planned-2027/
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: Pezimak, Z-4195, MeasterHD and 2 others
Heres the reality for me...I. DONT. CARE. I might be buying the Fold 2/Ultra 2 what ever the hell they end up calling it, if i dont have to sell a kidney and take out a 3rd morgage on my house to get it. And just like every other phone i buy, im putting it in the most protective, functional, comfortable case i can afford to put on it, know why?

Cause in nearly 20 years of using iphones, i never once cracked a screen or broke a phone even with the ocasional drops. Why? I HAVE CASES AND SCREEN PROTECTORS ON THEM. I've never once resold or traded in a phone in anything less but near mint condition because i invest in cases and screen protectors.

You can design the phone how ever you want to design it. As long as it doesnt bend easly, or is so delicate that normal every day use is going to damage it, i just dont care. It has to feel comfortable to use in the hand, fast, and reliable.

Im even holding out on buying the fold until i know if it can survive a day at the beach. The Samsung phones cant. they got lousy dust and water resistant raitings.

I dont get this form over function mentality where if the phone cant survive the real world, then whats the use of it?
 
  • Love
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: clg82, d686546s, Stormshadow and 10 others
Gurman is walking it back and letting "glass-centric" design do an awful lot of work. I mean there have already been how many versions of the iPhone with a glass front and back with a thin metal band? So they shrink the metal band and make a glass front and back with slightly curved edges? I would call that more evolutionary than revolutionary. Hasn't the Apple Watch had curved glass from the jump? Find a way to have no metal band, then I'll be impressed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: miq, SmugMaverick and Teleman
I don’t understand what is so confusing about it.
It’s going to look like a thicker iPhone Air, but with a curved front. And a massive camera bump on the back.
And the front is going to have the same type of wide angle display that some Apple watches do, where it looks like your content is spilling off the edges. It goes very well with the new floating control bars everywhere.

I don’t think it’s a 20th anniversary model or anything like that, though, just the next design for the pro.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Oblivious.Robot, amartinez1660, jonnyb and 1 other person
Well, I’m happy for those who were waiting for this phone - assuming it will be readily available despite the RAM/memory crisis. Already, this distorted market has forced major changes in Apple’s product plans.

I suspect that mid-2026 will be remembered as the period during which Apple and the other phone/computer/tablet makers finally realized that they had a serious affordability problem on their hands. We’ll have to see how they deal with it. Simply passing along costs to consumers may not be a winning hand. They'll all have to get more creative.

But I hope this 2027 iPhone redesign will make it into consumer hands at a reasonable price.
 
Yourbigpalal83 said:
...

Im even holding out on buying the fold until i know if it can survive a day at the beach. The Samsung phones cant. they got lousy dust and water resistant raitings.

I dont get this form over function mentality where if the phone cant survive the real world, then whats the use of it?
Click to expand...
I beg to differ on that point. The first Samsung Fold was prone to dust intrusion so bad it jammed the hinge and cracked the screen. By the Fold4, sand wasn't so dangerous. I've taken my Folds to beaches in California, Hawaii, and Cancun without issue.

I've also used my Fold4 to record the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery, in the rain. Not under an umbrella. The phone was rained on. No problems. Foldables are not waterproof, but the Fold3 and later ones have decent water-resistance IP ratings. I simply use my foldables in the same manner that I've used all past phones.

I am not saying my foldables were entirely issue-free, but none of my problems were attributed to dust, sand, or water intrusion in the past four years I've been using foldables. Foldables get better and more resilient every year. They're still the best and favorite phones I've ever had and I can't/won't go back to slab phones. Just carry insurance for a foldable.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Pezimak, BeagleLegal and ThailandToo
Yourbigpalal83 said:
Heres the reality for me...I. DONT. CARE. I might be buying the Fold 2/Ultra 2 what ever the hell they end up calling it, if i dont have to sell a kidney and take out a 3rd morgage on my house to get it. And just like every other phone i buy, im putting it in the most protective, functional, comfortable case i can afford to put on it, know why?

Cause in nearly 20 years of using iphones, i never once cracked a screen or broke a phone even with the ocasional drops. Why? I HAVE CASES AND SCREEN PROTECTORS ON THEM. I've never once resold or traded in a phone in anything less but near mint condition because i invest in cases and screen protectors.

You can design the phone how ever you want to design it. As long as it doesnt bend easly, or is so delicate that normal every day use is going to damage it, i just dont care. It has to feel comfortable to use in the hand, fast, and reliable.

Im even holding out on buying the fold until i know if it can survive a day at the beach. The Samsung phones cant. they got lousy dust and water resistant raitings.

I dont get this form over function mentality where if the phone cant survive the real world, then whats the use of it?
Click to expand...
I would say the iPhone 17 Pro Max I have as my work phone is the least durable iPhone I have ever owned. It’s heavy, made from weak aluminum, one drop would mean a massive dent, and it would suck. The 15 Pro Max I used for two years before it was special - dropped plenty without a dent and never a case.

I have rarely used cases, but this 17 Pro Max has a case on it because it’s function without form - and did I mention heavy?!. It’s ugly on the back; wobbles on a table. The Dynamic Island is way too big. The phone is not a color I want either. It’s a massive piece of glass and aluminum that fills its soul with disappointment.

So give me an all glass iPhone. Give me a foldable iPhone. Give me an iPhone that has soul like the Air has. I want thin. I want foldable. I want pure glass. A titanium band around the edges is all it needs. No aluminum to destroy with one drop. Not too heavy either. Give me lightweight and I don’t care if the charge is not eight hours worth - but it needs an ultrawide camera and again, SOUL. Got to buy AC+ anyways!!! It better be something special.
 
  • Like
Reactions: amartinez1660 and bluraycinema
MiamiFL said:
Gurman is walking it back and letting "glass-centric" design do an awful lot of work. I mean there have already been how many versions of the iPhone with a glass front and back with a thin metal band? So they shrink the metal band and make a glass front and back with slightly curved edges? I would call that more evolutionary than revolutionary. Hasn't the Apple Watch had curved glass from the jump? Find a way to have no metal band, then I'll be impressed.
Click to expand...
Yeah, he knows it’s not a thing, but, as no one else is talking about it (because he made it up) he was mister know-it-all about what he invented in his head. A reason for folks that want info from someone “in the know” to subscribe to his Power On newsletter. Now that someone else has said it’s not happening, he’s got a line to straddle. Between “call them out and have egg on his face when what’s not going to be released isn’t released” and “say that he’s still right, but, you know it could be wrong. I mean, if it miraculously doesn’t happen it’s not because I was wrong, it was because of that… that fight… Ummm between Ternus and Cook. Yeah, them they couldn’t agree on v73 or v74 could be on the front with Ternus liking even numbers and wanting that on the front. As a result, Cook forbade him to release it at all and, as Tim had already executed a searing purple nurple and was well on his way to executing his style of wet willie that Tim refers to as the “TIMSON TIDE”, Ternus had to concede.”
 
  • Love
  • Haha
Reactions: amartinez1660 and Pezimak
As I said in another post, this is just another data point that suggests Apple’s industrial design team is the source of many of Gurman’s rumors. I’m sure they were the source of his recent Apple Watch rumors too.
 
BGPL said:
Which no one will see because it will be covered by a protective case. How about manufacturing a phone that has OEM protection?
Click to expand...
I mean, it already has a pretty good water proofing. This was not the case years ago. I guess that drop protection is just very difficult/impossible to engineer without making the phone ugly and bulky…
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back