Apple is reportedly gearing up for three years of major iPhone redesign

Back in August last year, reports suggested that Apple's strategy with the iPhone 16 series was simply to hold the fort and stabilize sales, while reserving some of its most significant innovations for 2025 and the iPhone 17 lineup. By October, Apple's engineering chief John Ternus went a step further, calling the iPhone 17 series the company's "most ambitious in the product's history."

We're just a couple of weeks away from the iPhone 17's debut, and the big question is whether all the buzz surrounding Apple's next flagship is truly justified. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the iPhone 17 lineup is set to kick off a three-year cycle of major design changes, laying the groundwork for Apple's boldest iPhone evolution in recent years.

Gurman says Apple will commence its design overhaul this September with the introduction of the iPhone 17 Air, echoing the MacBook Air's debut in 2008 with an emphasis on being thinner and lighter. However, this shift toward sleekness will come with a few trade-offs, including a smaller battery, the removal of the physical SIM card slot, and fewer camera sensors on the back.

The other members of the iPhone 17 line don't expect to be a massive departure from the current iPhone 16 series, except for a revamped camera system, a redesigned back panel, and the launch of Pro models in orange.

As previously reported, Apple is expected to launch its first foldable iPhone in 2026. Gurman notes that" it looks like Samsung Electronics Co.'s book-style foldables that open into a small tablet". The foldable iPhone is rumored to feature five cameras while also eliminating the physical SIM card slot. Interestingly, the device is said to rely on Touch ID instead of Face ID.

Moreover, the foldable iPhone might launch in black and white and get Apple's in-house C2 modem. Fast forward to 2027, coinciding with the iPhone's 20th anniversary, Apple is expected to unveil a glass-centric iPhone with curved glass that perfectly matches the Liquid Glass interface for iOS.

While Apple has a slew of products in the pipeline for upcoming years, including iPhone 17e for 2026, and updated iPads and MacBooks with M5 chips, iPhone is at the heart of product development in the company.

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Posted Monday 25 August 2025 at 5:32 am AEST (my time).

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