For the iPhone’s Twentieth anniversary, Apple is turning to Samsung Display to develop a custom micro-curved OLED panel that promises to be both brighter and thinner than current displays, according to fresh supply chain reports from China.
The company is reportedly exploring a dramatic redesign that could deliver a fully bezel-less screen wrapping around all four edges of the device. To achieve this, Apple is requesting an equal-depth quad-curved panel from Samsung that employs subtle “micro-curves” — keeping the bends shallow and controlled — rather than the dramatic, aggressive “waterfall” edges seen on some existing Samsung smartphones.
This approach aims to create a seamless, all-screen appearance while minimizing distortion and maintaining usability.
The latest supply chain information comes from Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station, who also says that Apple wants a “pol-less” display from Samsung – in other words, a panel design that removes the polarizer layer that sits on top of most current OLED screens.
That claim lines up with a September 2025 report out of Korea that said Apple will adopt a Samsung-made OLED technology called COE (Color Filter on Encapsulation) to make the 20th-anniversary iPhone’s display brighter and thinner than previous panels.
COE displays remove the polarizing film from an OLED panel, applying the color filter directly onto the encapsulation layer of the display.
The technique reduces the thickness of the overall display stack, and it lets more light through to improve brightness while reducing power draw…
2027 will mark the 20th-anniversary of the iPhone, and Apple reportedly wants to create a high-end all-glass model that doesn’t have cutouts in the display.
MacDailyNews Take: Looks like we’ll be getting foldable iPhones (depending on specs; we might choose iPhone 18 Pro Max units instead) this year and then, hopefully unbroken sheet-of-glass Twentieth Anniversary iPhones in 2027!
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That sounds “ultra” expensive. Apple should do a secondary 20th Anniversary iPhone by creating the ultimate evolution of the one-handed easily-pocketable iPhone design, envisioned and introduced by Steve Jobs in 2007. One more iteration of iPhone 7-8-SE2-SE3, same external appearance with TouchID Home Button, this time upgraded with support for on-device A.I. and single camera from 17e/Air (and USB-C). Price it for under $500 retail to allow “the rest of use” to participate in celebrating iPhone’s 20th birthday!
Come on, let’s toss out really impressive stretch goals. iPhone AirPro Mini GT Product Red Special Edition, 2TB, for $400 out the door. You know you want two of them.