iPhone XX could mark a significant change in Apple design next year – to celebrate 20th anniversary

2027 will mark the 20th anniversary of the iPhone, and every rumour seems to suggest a big change is coming. That's corroborated once again by new leaks, which suggest that the brand could pull from the playbook of some Android phones for its anniversary model.

That's because the brand looks set to introduce a quad-curved display on its anniversary handset, which is a stark departure from the usual right-angled designs. The news comes from trusted leaker, Digital Chat Station, who shared details on Weibo.

If you're struggling to picture what that might look like, there are a wealth of Android phones which utilise such a panel. The Oppo Find X8 Pro is an example which comes to mind, but there are lots of others which have made use of the design over the years.

Apparently those are going to be gentler than other previous iterations. It's being described as a 'micro-curve' which is said to be less intense than the waterfall designs of years gone by.

It's not just gaining some curves, either. According to the leak, the model is also attempting to remove the polarising filter layer on top of the OLED display. That would help to make things slimmer, as well as improving the brightness by removing one of the barriers between the pixels and your eyes.

The design has been reported on previously, and works by incorporating that filter directly into the encapsulation layer. It's a clever design, which should also reduce power consumption for any given brightness.

One major trade off is the reflectivity of the display, where the lack of a polarizer can make it tougher to deal with reflections. Still, Apple added an anti-reflective coating in the latest iPhone 17 range, which may well be able to assist with that issue. One thing's for sure – it looks like a very different iPhone will arrive net time out.