Glassier iPhones and future ahead for Apple

 Apple ‘mostly glass, curved iPhone’ expected in 2027

Apple is planning a “mostly glass, curved iPhone” with no display cut-outs for that year, which happens to be the iPhone’s 20th anniversary. Apple is planning a monumental year for new devices in 2027, but its current lack of breakthrough designs could make that wait feel interminable. The company is also working on an iOS 19 feature which syncs hotel Wi-Fi access details across devices, and it’s preparing for an era after Google search. Apple Inc. has introduced plenty of product updates in the past year or so, the iPhone 16, the Series 10 smart watch and several fresh Macs, to name a few, but it’s been a while since we saw something intriguingly new. A report says that “at least one 2027 iPhone model that will place the front-facing camera underneath the screen to enable a truly edge-to-edge display.” Late last year, a report said Apple is working with its display partners to create a bezel-less iPhone, but not one that curves the display down the side of the phone, a trick companies like Samsung and Vivo have employed in the past.

But the “mostly glass, curved” is more interesting, because what the heck does that mean? The iPhone 15 Pro right now described as “mostly glass,” with the only exterior metal being around the camera lenses and in its titanium edge, which the front and back curve down to. Apart from a changing iPhone, it is described like a big year for Apple. Reports suggests that the first foldable iPhone should be out by 2027, and that the company’s first smart glasses competitor to Meta Ray-Bans will be along that year. So will those rumoured camera-equipped AirPods and Apple Watches. Though the Vision Pro headset certainly qualifies as innovative, it never caught on with consumers. And now its long-term future is in question as the company pivots to glasses. The iPhone 16, meanwhile, is undoubtedly one of the best smartphones on the market, but not too different than its four predecessors. In laptops, Apple has rolled out industry-leading processors, encased inside hardware which remains much the same. It’s clear that Apple needs something bigger and bolder on the horizon. But the speed of its innovation engine is slower. Whether it’s due to the company’s larger size, inertia or a cumbersome development process, things have changed: The days of getting frequently redesigned devices and a major new product category every few years are long gone. Apple is dealing with a more competitive marketplace than ever, with Chinese players like Huawei Technologies Co. and Xiaomi Corp. popping out innovative new designs like foldable phones. Governments and third-party developers around the world are pressing Apple to rein in its business practices. It is also suggested that Apple’s home robot, a table top robot that features “an AI assistant with its own personality”, will come in 2027. It’s hard not to think about the adorable robotic lamp Apple’s internal researchers have been tinkering with.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, summed up the situation pretty well last week. “The most successful companies that were there either don’t exist today or are significantly smaller and much less impactful,” he said. “That goes from HP to Sun Microsystems to Silicon Graphics to Tandem Computers.” He said that’s because frequent tech changes create opportunities for new businesses to supplant the current leaders. “I worry about this for Apple. We’re highly successful, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be around 10 or 20 years down the line,” Cue said. “People still are going to need toothpaste 20 years from now, 40 years from now. You may not need an iPhone 10 years from now, as crazy as that sounds.” Now, it’s likely that Cue was just making this point to protect his lucrative search arrangement with Google. But his point holds true nonetheless. If Apple doesn’t innovate and falls behind the times, it will be easy prey for competitors. Apple isn’t preordained to be the next BlackBerry, Nokia or Compaq. The company has the resources to evolve, buy up start-ups that can help it create breakthrough technologies, and design its way into new areas. It’s also true that hardware innovation has been a tough challenge for the whole tech industry lately. The good news is, an Apple product renaissance is on the way, it just won’t happen until around 2027. If all goes well, Apple’s product road map should deliver a number of promising new devices, in time for the iPhone’s 20-year anniversary.

By 2027 Apple could finally ship an LLM-powered Siri and may have created new chips for its server-side AI processing. A report covered such a development and suggested that the team handling Apple’s new AI chips is the same Israel-based silicon design group that was “instrumental in designing” the Apple silicon chips that let the company ditch Intel chips for its Macs in 2020. Apple’s first foldable iPhone, which some at the company consider one of two major two-decade anniversary initiatives, should be on the market by 2027. This device will be unique in that the typical foldable display crease is expected to be nearly invisible. Later in the year, a mostly glass, curved iPhone, without any cut-outs in the display, is due to hit. That will mark the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone X, which kicked off the transition to all-screen, glass-focused iPhone designs. We should also have the first smart glasses from Apple. As reported, the company is planning to manufacture a dedicated chip for such a device by 2027. The product will operate similarly to the popular Meta Ray-Bans, letting Apple leverage its expertise in audio, miniaturization and design. Given the company’s strengths, it’s surprising that Meta Platforms Inc. got the jump on Apple in this area.

The glasses will feature Apple Intelligence and use cameras to gather context about the surrounding environment. Also in the 2027 time frame: Apple is planning new AirPods and watches which include cameras, giving them similar functionality. Outside of hardware, there are at least two major Apple Intelligence developments that could arrive by 2027. The company will have powerful new chips for its AI servers, improving the experience. And Apple is shifting to a version of its Siri digital assistant that relies on large language models, the basis for generative AI. Then there’s Apple’s push into robotics, which will include a table top machine with a robotic arm (building on the company’s still-pending plans for a smart home hub). That would feature an AI assistant with its own personality. Apple has other major new initiatives on its road map, including a product that will cross a foldable iPad with a touch-screen Mac. That likely won’t arrive until 2028. The timing is fluid for much of this, of course. But it at least gives Apple fans something to look forward to during this period of incremental updates and slow progress.

Apple readies feature that can sync the data for Wi-Fi portals across your devices. The company is about a month away from holding its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, a time when it looks to get app creators and customers excited about new technology. The big news of the 2025 conference will be:

A new software interface and design language that runs across Apple’s devices.

Upgrades to Apple Intelligence, including ones that weave AI into more applications and features.

An effort to make the iPad’s operating system more powerful and feel more like the Mac’s software.

Beyond the design overhaul and iPad features, the company is also working on a much-requested time saver: a system that can synchronize captive Wi-Fi access details across the iPhone, iPad and Mac. This means, when you go to a new hotel, office building or gym, you’re often asked to fill out a web form on all your devices before you can access the internet. This new feature will let you enter that information on one device and have it synched to your other products. That should make things a bit more convenient next time you need to access a new Wi-Fi network.

Apple prepares to end the Google search era with a shift to AI-based results. Apple’s pivot to AI search does seem to be moving forward. Cue is currently looking at adding ChatGPT, Perplexity and other providers as an option in Safari. If the Google deal doesn’t get thrown out, Google Gemini might becomes the default AI choice, a tweak to the current search deal. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and others would then be offered as backup options, becoming the next-generation version of search engines Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo. But if the Google search deal does end, Apple has no incentive to push a default offering to customers. In that case, the company will likely throw up an option screen for users and make it easier than ever to switch search engines. Apple’s annual developer conference will take place during its usual time frame June 9-13., but the stakes are higher than ever. At last year’s event, the company showed several key features that were either delayed by months or never released. To recap, the conference should have three major themes: redesigned and more cohesive operating systems, new Apple Intelligence capabilities, and major enhancements to the iPad’s OS for user's.