Apple’s long-running goal of building a truly all-screen iPhone—no notches, no cutouts, no distractions—may finally be within reach. But according to reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and The Information, the final product is still a couple of iPhone cycles away. And, as always with Apple, the transition will be methodical.
The Road to No Bezels, No Island
Let’s rewind. Apple first nudged toward a full-screen future back in 2017 with the iPhone X, ditching the home button and thick bezels in favor of Face ID and the now-familiar notch. That design stuck around until 2022, when the iPhone 14 Pro introduced the Dynamic Island—a clever blend of cutout and interface trickery.
But even that was a stepping stone. Now, Gurman says next year’s iPhone lineup—likely the iPhone 18 series—will shrink the size of the Dynamic Island even further. That aligns with The Information’s Wayne Ma, who reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models will debut under-display Face ID for the first time.
Still, there’s a wrinkle: Ma says the front camera will remain, housed in a small punch-hole. Gurman, on the other hand, suggests there will still be a smaller Dynamic Island. It’s not clear whether that’s semantics or a deeper disagreement about the design’s direction. With Apple, such details matter.
2027: The Real Milestone
Gurman also mentions something bigger on the horizon: Apple’s 20th-anniversary iPhone the “All screen iPhone”, is expected in 2027. That model, he claims, will be the first to truly deliver on the company’s all-screen ambitions.
We’re talking:
- Seamless display with no visible camera or sensors
- Curved glass edges
- Super-slim bezels (likely thinner than anything in the industry today)
If it ships as expected, this would be Apple’s most significant hardware redesign in over a decade—and the first iPhone without any visible front-facing tech. Face ID and the camera would live entirely behind the screen.
Apple’s Usual Approach: Slowly, Then All at Once
Apple rarely leaps forward without a trail of incremental steps. It’s how the iPhone evolved from the home button to gesture navigation. It’s how we got from LCD to OLED, Lightning to USB-C. This shift—from notched to pill-shaped to punch-hole to invisible—follows the same script.
And if you’re wondering why Apple’s taking so long while others already have under-screen cameras: the answer, as usual, is execution. Current under-display camera tech tends to produce murky, soft-focus images. That’s not something Apple, which markets heavily on camera performance, is likely to tolerate.
So… What’s Next?
If the current roadmap holds:
- 2026: Smaller cutouts, under-display Face ID, punch-hole camera
- 2027: Fully seamless screen, redesigned “anniversary” iPhone
Of course, plans can shift. Apple’s never confirmed any of this publicly. But if you’ve been waiting for a truly edge-to-edge iPhone, the finish line might finally be in sight—just not this year.
