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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Tom Pritchard

iPhone 20's all-glass design sounds like a sight to behold, and prototypes might already exist

IPhone 20 render.

We've heard a bunch of rumors about next year's iPhone, tentatively dubbed the iPhone 20, and the changes Apple may implement to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its flagship device.

One of those rumors claims we'll see some kind of wraparound glass display that curves around all four edges of the phone, and the newest claim is that prototypes of that design are already being tested.

This comes from prolific Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station (DCS) over on Weibo. According to the leaker, supply chain rumors suggest the 2027 iPhone will feature a quad-curved screen and that evaluation testing is already underway.

However, the leaker also claims that the iPhone 19 Pro series, as they're calling it, is already in mass production, despite the fact that it won't be going on sale for another 16 months. Phones normally don't hit the mass production stage until, at most, a few months before they're released.

Last we heard, the iPhone Fold, which is arriving later this year, isn't expected to enter mass production until July. So there's no way the 2027 iPhone is already being built at scale. DCS may mean the curved screens themselves are being mass-produced, but even that seems unlikely, especially if the design is still in the evaluation and testing stage.

What to expect from iPhone 20's curved display

(Image credit: Future)

Quad-curved displays are nothing new and were quite popular among Chinese phone brands for many years. From what we've seen and heard, Apple's take may not be a straight copy of those designs. Instead, the curved edges are supposed to offer a wrap-around effect, and when combined with a glass backplate, could give the illusion that the iPhone 20 is completely made of glass — rather than a fusion of glass and metal.

Another tidbit from the post is that these screens will apparently have a hole-punch camera, rather than an under-display camera. That said, DCS suggests that a special 'commemorative edition' phone will feature the hidden selfie camera.

That's what we expected the iPhone 20 to be, which could suggest that Apple has two iPhone line-ups planned for next year. That happened in 2017, when the iPhone X was released alongside the iPhone 8, and it wouldn't surprise me if Apple did something similar next year.

But, if what DCS says all comes true, then it means the quad-curved display may not be exclusive to the anniversary iPhone. So who knows what extra features it will have to help differentiate it from the last decade's worth of devices?

Considering the iPhone 18 Pro hasn't even been released yet, it's still too early to know exactly what to expect from 2027's wave of flagship iPhones. But, based on everything we've heard so far, it's going to be very interesting to see what Apple has planned for the iPhone's 20th birthday.

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