Apple plans three exciting years for the iPhone

As August once again slips away, spare a thought for Apple’s armies of iPhone engineers, iOS developers and the marketing people who have almost certainly been sweating the details this summer ahead of the next major iPhone launch.

With so much at stake, and all eyes on what the company does next with its hardware, it’s no surprise that word about the company’s plans have slipped — via Bloomberg as usual.

We now think we know the company is heading into a three-year span of exciting iPhone re-designs, including one thin one, a fabled future curved-glass device, and at last an iPhone fold. That’s going to keep the company’s naming chiefs reaching for a dictionary to dig out all the most relevant words to use for product names that might look good with “Apple” or “iPhone” in front of them. Will a curved iPhone be an iPhone Loop? (Probably not.)

Names come later, of course. For now, we’ve just got a gist of what to expect:

iPhone 17 range

We have already been teased to expect Apple to stagger the iPhone release cycle in the future, with Pro models shipping in September and “standard” iPhones (presumably including the iPhone “e” series) scheduled to appear in the Spring. This staged release is not expected to commence until 2026, as Apple is set to introduce four new iPhones next month in its usual way. 

iPhone Air

Set to replace the iPhone Plus, the iPhone Air is just 5.5mm thin and carries a 6.6-in. display. Lighter, it will use AI (Adaptive Power) to help optimize battery life, comes in four colors including sky blue, and might cost around $1,000. (The price is tariff sensitive). There has been speculation the system could use an eSIM, Apple C2 5G modem, and carry a single camera but boast a powerful A19 chip.

iPhone Fold

Bloomberg tells us that the foldable iPhone (V68, apparently) will be similar in look to Samsung’s Z-Fold smartphones, opening out into a small tablet. The latest report claims it will have four cameras (so you can FaceTime in any configuration), will use an eSIM for network connectivity, and might use Touch ID rather than Face ID. The device, which will probably also use an Apple modem, is now scheduled for introduction in Fall 2026, along with the iPhone 18 series — an iPhone 18 Air, iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. The iPhone 18 model then appears in 2027.

iPhone Curve (Twentieth Anniversary)

Mark Gurman has been evangelizing Apple’s unshared plans to introduce a curved glass iPhone for months. He says this will make its debut in 2027, marking the device’s twentieth anniversary. It will boast curved glass edges all around, and feel like a living sheet of glass too, thanks to Apple’s Liquid Glass OS, which arrives next month. 

We can guess at some of the rest, including an A20 processor, more memory, a successor to Face ID with the camera beneath the display, and second-generation contextual Apple Intelligence — these things won’t just look advanced, they will actually be advanced as we drive to peak 21st century technology. (Given eroding water and energy supplies, it’s questionable what comes next).

What comes next?

These aren’t the only exciting product introductions Apple is planning — as early as this year, you can expect a lower-cost MacBook Air. Equipped with an A-series processor, these systems will pack more than enough punch to compete with cheaper Windows PCs, and ship as Windows users consider the cost and hassle of moving to Windows 11.

You can also expect faster M5-based Macs, faster Vision Pro units, M5-powered iPad Pros and powerfully improved AirPods Pro with heart monitoring. That’s even before the company introduces new product families and hardware, all built to exploit the upgraded Apple Intelligence the company is developing, leaning into AI partners for the things Apple can’t, or won’t, do.

Apple, it appears, is not done innovating.

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