Next year, the iPhone will be turning 20 – and Apple is heavily rumored to be working on a radical new design to celebrate. Many have expected this to come in the form of iPhone 19 Pro (more likely to be called iPhone 20 to align with the anniversary), but I think there’s one solid reason that it may not be delivered in that form.
The 20th anniversary iPhone is rumored to reach Jony Ive’s initial vision of a single slab of glass. Display up to the very edges – curving over the sides, and an all glass design. It’s rumored to come in with a 7-inch display, slightly larger than iPhone 17 Pro Max, likely because of the bezel elimination. It might also bring under display Face ID and camera technology to the iPhone for the first time, resulting in no Dynamic Island pill.
It sounds like an incredible phone. That said, I’m not fully convinced that it’ll end up being a successor to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro like many are suggesting.
The iPhone 17 Pro shift
Simply put, iPhone 17 Pro went really hard on being utilitarian. All aluminum design to maximize thermal performance, and a thicker chassis alongside it. It marked the move away from Pro iPhones looking flashy and being the premium choice. Alongside it, we got iPhone Air – a radically thin and premium built iPhone, still focusing on an all glass and titanium design.
Given that shift, I find it unlikely that Apple would go back to making Pro iPhones primarily out of glass, given the thermal compromises. In the current iPhone lineup, Air represents premium while Pro represents uncompromising.
Apple will be debuting an iPhone Air 2 in early 2027 with a second camera. Afterwards, it’s unclear what’s in the pipeline for iPhone Air.
I could be totally wrong on this, but it seems more likely that the fall 2027-spring 2028 iPhone lineup would look like this – with the 20th anniversary iPhone instead replacing iPhone Air:
A launch like this would be more akin to what Apple did in 2017. With that lineup, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus were still new phones, but iPhone X sat at the top of the lineup for those who wanted the flashy new device.
Wrap up
For what it’s worth, the rumors aren’t on my side for this one – and it’s still widely expected that the 20th anniversary iPhones will be in replacement of the iPhone Pro. That said, we’re still over a year away from this debut, and things can still change.
If it truly does end up replacing the Pro iPhones, then maybe Apple will end up keeping the 18 Pros around for an additional generation. I’m not quite sure I can see Apple abandoning this pro-first design so early.
Of course, the iPhone 20 is still over a year away – so it’s possible the rumors are shaping the phone up to be a bit more radical than it actually will be. If things tone down a bit, then maybe iPhone 20 replacing both Pro iPhones would still make sense.
What do you think about the 20th anniversary iPhone rumors? Do you think it makes sense to replace the current iPhone Pro design? Sound off in the comments.
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