iPhone 19/20: Everything we know about the anniversary iPhone

With the first models in the iPhone 18 lineup released (iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max and iPhone Duo) and the rest (iPhone 18e, iPhone 18 and Air 2) expected in spring, you may already be looking ahead to Apple’s iPhone 19 models and wondering what’s in store.

As you might expect, rumours are vague at this stage, but it’s being projected that Apple may not launch an iPhone 19 line at all.

Here’s why.

The first iPhone was launched under Steve Jobs in 2007, meaning that 2027 will be Apple’s twentieth anniversary. Many pundits believe that Apple will skip the iPhone 19 altogether, instead jumping straight to a special anniversary edition phone: iPhone 20 or iPhone XX.

When will the iPhone 20 launch?

We expect Apple to follow up its 9 September “Surprise and Shine” event, at which it launched the high-end iPhone 18 phones, with a spring 2027 event where the more affordable iPhone 18 models will make their debut.

We’d then expect the first of the new iPhone 20 models to be announced in early September 2027. This is based on the announcement schedule of the past few years:

• iPhone 18 series – 9 September, 2026
• iPhone 17 series – 9 September, 2025
• iPhone 16 series – 9 September, 2024
• iPhone 15 series -12 September, 2023

New models are typically announced at a keynote event, become available to pre-order in the following days and then ship a week later. A notable change to this schedule was the release of the iPhone Duo. The all-new model was announced on 9 September 2026, along with the iPhone Pro and Pro Max, but was not scheduled for pre-order until 16 October, with shipping on 23 October.

Once again, we expect Apple to follow its new, tiered release schedule: high-end models would be announced in September 2027, with more affordable phones making an appearance in spring 2028.

Which iPhone 20 models will Apple release?

When we’re discussing a significant redesign, we don’t expect that to be across all models. It’s thought that Apple will release two redesigned phones for its 20th anniversary: a Pro and Pro Max model.

We would also expect to see a more affordable “e” model – or an equivalent. There will likely also be a new base model. There may then be updates to Apple’s newer phones – perhaps a Duo 2 and iPhone Air 3.

One rumour has it that Apple will discontinue the base model in its current form, replacing it with a handset based on the iPhone Air.

Sources: Bloomberg | MacRumors

What can we expect from the iPhone 20?

It’s thought that Apple will do something very different with the iPhone to mark its twentieth anniversary. Bloomberg journalist and Apple expert Mark Gurman believes that Apple is planning a radically redesigned model.

There is a precedent for this. In 2017, Apple launched its tenth-anniversary model – iPhone X – with sweeping design changes. The key difference was the removal of the home button, which allowed for an unbroken screen. The notch for the camera and Face ID was also added, the standard LCD screen was swapped out for an OLED display, and the device was wrapped in a stainless-steel frame.  

So, what could the twentieth-anniversary model look like? Back in 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that Jony Ive, then Apple’s Chief Design Officer, had said that his ultimate goal was for the iPhone “to appear like a single sheet of glass”.

Mark Gurman believes that this is the design that we’ll see next year.

The most often mentioned design feature is a quad-curved display that would wrap around all sides of the phone. It would effectively remove the bezel and conceal the frame. It’s rumoured that Apple is working with Samsung on the design for the new display.

It’s also thought that this may be the year in which Apple hides Face ID and the camera beneath the display, eliminating the cutout that’s visible behind the iPhone screen. However, the most recent rumour says that the cutout will remain as the under-display technology that debuted on the Duo is considered “poorly concealed” and not “good enough for selfies”, according to comments made by reliable leaker Digital Chat Station in a Weibo post.

The same leaker has also said that prototypes of the iPhone 20 Pro and Pro Max are being tested. The Pro is said to feature a display of around 6.41 inches, with a resolution of about 2,686 x 1,236 pixels. The Pro Max will have a 6.96-inch display with a 2,912 x 1,340 pixel resolution.

It’s a fairly substantial display size increase over the iPhone 18 Pro’s 6.3-inch screen and, less so, the Pro Max’s 6.9 inches.

Leaker Ice Universe shared an image of the Pro Max, but did not explain its origin or whether it was produced using AI, so we wouldn’t suggest taking it too seriously.

The iPhone 20 Pro Max looks like this pic.twitter.com/JcFqSP4fPZ

— Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) September 21, 2026

There are also rumours that Apple will kill the physical buttons on the frame, replacing them with touch sensors with haptic feedback.

In terms of performance upgrades, a successor to this year’s A20 chip is expected. Logically, that would be the A21 chip, which would provide the new devices with quicker processing. We’d also expect to see battery and camera upgrades.

But at this stage, you’ll need to take all rumours with a pinch of salt. To some extent, the iPhone 20 has become the focus of all the iPhone wish-list design changes that have been swirling for years. People have forecast some of these upgrades before and they haven’t yet come to pass.

Still, there’s new evidence to support some of the key redesign concepts. A new Weibo post from Digital Chat Station claims that Chinese Android makers are already considering models with borderless quad-curved screens and 200Mp variable aperture technology to compete with the anniversary iPhone, suggesting that the iPhone 20 Pro and Pro Max design is far enough along to spark industry chatter.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg | Apple Insider | Digital Chat Station | (2) | Ice Universe on X

How much will the iPhone 20 cost?

At this stage, it’s too early to speculate on prices for models we know so little about. Nor can we guess at next year’s market conditions. Prices this year have been seriously affected by the RAM shortage – so much so that Apple made the decision to raise the prices of its already-released iPhone 17 lineup by £100/$100 per model.

For reference, here are the prices of the new non-foldable models released in September 2026. We wouldn’t expect the twentieth-anniversary models to cost less – and they could easily get a special anniversary price (and not in a good way).

iPhone 18 Pro:

• £1,199/$1,199 (256GB)
• £1,399/$1,399 (512GB)
• £1,799/$1,799 (1TB)
• £2,399/$2,399 (2TB)

iPhone 18 Pro Max:

• £1,299/$1,299 (256GB)
• £1,499/$1,499 (512GB)
• £1,899/$1,899 (1TB)
• £2,499/$2,499 (2TB)

That’s all the iPhone 19/20 rumours rounded up. See everything we know about the iPhone 18 series for all the announced and expected models form the current generation, or read our iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo reviews.