Apple is shaking up the iPhone lineup with three straight years of major design changes, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. After years of smaller upgrades, the company is finally preparing a series of big moves that will stretch from 2025 through 2027.
This September, Apple is expected to launch the iPhone Air, a slimmer model that will take the place of the iPhone 16 Plus. Similar to the MacBook Air strategy, it will focus on being thinner and lighter, but with trade-offs. Gurman reports it will have weaker battery life, just one rear camera, no SIM-card slot, and will debut Apple’s first in-house modem chip instead of Qualcomm’s.
The lineup will also include the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max. These will look the same, with only slight changes compared to the iPhone 16. The Pro versions will feature a redesigned back, improved cameras, and a new orange colour option, while the Air will come in light blue.
The big shift happens in 2026 with Apple’s first foldable iPhone, code-named V68. It’s designed like Samsung’s book-style foldables, opening into a tablet-size screen. The device will feature five cameras, rely on Touch ID instead of Face ID, and drop the SIM-card slot. Apple suppliers are already preparing for production, aiming for a fall launch. Gurman says Apple has also tweaked the display tech to make the crease less visible and touch controls more accurate.
In 2027, Apple is expected to celebrate the iPhone’s 20th anniversary with the iPhone 20, moving away from the flat-edged design introduced in 2020. Instead, it will feature curved glass on all sides. This design will pair with a new Liquid Glass interface that’s part of iOS 26.
Apple also has updates coming to other products, including new Apple Watches, faster Vision Pro headsets, M5-powered iPad Pros, and AirPods with health features. Looking further ahead, projects in development include a HomePod with a screen, smart glasses, and even AirPods with cameras.
It’s clear Apple is all about the iPhone still. Gurman says this roadmap shows Apple is ready to move past tiny changes and deliver its boldest redesigns in years. iPhone innovation has remained stagnant so these new changes are a long time coming.
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What happened to "innovation" in Smartphone tech and esthetics? This is sooooo B-O-R-I-N-G.
I'm not a super fan of any platform, but if we're being honest with ourselves, there's only so many ways you can redesign a rectangular slab. As we approach twenty years of smart phones, it stands to reason that any changes will be increasingly incremental.