Why Apple’s 2027 anniversary iPhone may still have a screen cutout

The phone is reportedly set to be called the iPhone 20, with Apple skipping the iPhone 19 to mark 20 years since the iPhone’s debut. Earlier rumors suggested it would have a front made entirely of glass, without bezels or camera cutouts. Digital Chat Station made the latest comments in a question-and-answer exchange beneath a Weibo post about the iPhone 18.

The leaker and Ice Universe have previously pointed to a different design: a bezel-less, “quad-curved” display with a small Dynamic Island. That possibility looks more plausible in light of the iPhone Duo, which already has an uninterrupted inner screen and hides its FaceTime camera beneath the display.

But the iPhone Duo’s implementation has drawbacks. It lacks Face ID, using a side-mounted Touch ID sensor instead, and its under-display FaceTime camera has a low 4-megapixel resolution and takes poor selfies. Apple may be working to improve the camera, but the source says a major improvement by next year seems unlikely. Hiding Face ID sensors beneath the screen would be a separate challenge.

Digital Chat Station also said the iPhone 18e, iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2 are due in the first half of next year. The iPhone 18 is rumored to have a 6.3-inch, 1.5K 120Hz OLED display with Dynamic Island, an A20 chip built on a 2-nanometer process, Face ID, two 48-megapixel cameras and a larger battery. Its price is also expected to rise, though no amount has been reported.