Apple could be planning a radical new iPhone design for its anniversary

For the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone, Apple not only announced the regular iPhone 8 that featured the same design as its predecessors, but it also revealed the iPhone X. The X was the first to feature Face ID, and it has defined the design of the iPhone for the last nine years, even if things have changed quite a bit in that time.

Now there are rumours floating around for the device that will define the next decade of iPhone’s design, reportedly planned to tie in with the year the iPhone turns 20.

What might we be able to expect from the iPhone 20?

According to leaker Digital Chat Station on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo (picked up by 9to5Mac), one of the designs within Apple’s rumoured iPhone roadmap is said to include a model with a quad-curved display.

There have been a number of reports suggesting Apple is planning something special for the 20th anniversary of iPhone, which of course makes sense, but according to Digital Chat Station’s post, the design process for a quad-curved display is progressing. Meanwhile, it seemingly ties in with reports that the iPhone 20 might ditch physical buttons for haptic ones – something that has been rumoured previously.

It’s also been suggested that Apple will move to an all-screen design by placing the other components, like the Face ID sensors, beneath the screen. Again though, this has been rumoured for years.

Naturally, nothing has been confirmed by Apple as to whether it is working on a special model or, of course, what that model could offer, so this report from Weibo should be taken with a pinch of salt for now. Keep in mind that Apple has been rumoured to be working on a folding phone for years and we have yet to see that appear so it’s always diffcult to know how much of the speculation is plausible and how much is fantasy.

A quad-curved display wouldn’t be new either – a number of Android phones adopted that design years ago before switching back to standard displays, but either way, we’d at least hope for something special for the iPhone 20, whatever that may be.