- Apple is cooking up something special for the 20th-anniversary iPhone models coming in 2027. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the designs of these phones are “extraordinarily complex” and necessitate that they be built in China, rather than India, where Apple is reportedly moving most of its smartphone manufacturing as a result of Trump’s tariffs.
Apple may be moving most of its iPhone manufacturing to India in the wake of Trump’s global tariffs rollout, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports the 20th-anniversary iPhone will have an “extraordinarily complex” design that requires it be built in China.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on two iPhone models to celebrate 20 years on the market; the first iPhone was unveiled in 2007. But as Gurman notes, every time Apple has come out with a brand-new product or design, it’s always been built in China for the first run.
“[The 20-year anniversary models will] require new parts and production techniques, making it far from a certainty that Apple will be able to build those outside of China,” he said. “At some point, yes, but certainly not by the year 2027.”
China, of course, is in the midst of a trade war with the U.S., in which the countries have been hitting each other with tariffs since Trump ramped up his attacks on what he believes are “unfair” practices from the world’s second-largest economy. The public, meanwhile, is getting mixed messaging from both countries on whether or not Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are actually talking, or holding negotiations, to de-escalate tensions.
It’s unclear what to actually expect from the 20th-anniversary iPhone. For years, Gurman, as well as others like analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, has said Apple is working on a foldable iPhone making use of a booklike design that looks like an iPhone when closed, but then opens up to reveal a much larger display akin to the size of an iPad Mini. Right now, the largest iPhone—the iPhone 16 Pro Max—features a 6.9-inch display. The iPad Mini, meanwhile, comes with an 8.3-inch screen.
This may not be the 20th-anniversary iPhone, however. Earlier this month, Gurman said Apple was also working on a “bold new Pro model that makes more extensive use of glass.” For years, rumors have pointed to an iPhone that would be all screen with no display cutouts (like the “notch” on older iPhones, or Dynamic Island on current models) and notably no perceptible cutout for the camera, which would actually operate beneath the display layer so it looks like a single slab of glass. Rumors have also swirled around the idea of Apple releasing an iPhone without any ports, even though it only recently switched from its proprietary Lightning connector to the ubiquitous USB-C standard in 2023 with the iPhone 15 lineup.
While Apple has historically produced its iPhones in China with the help of companies like Foxconn, the Financial Times reported last week that Apple plans to assemble all iPhones bound for the U.S. in India by the end of next year, given the country’s lower tariff rate compared to China.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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