Forget the iPhone 18 – we’re now hearing rumours about the iPhone 20

The iPhone 17 smartphone is little over a month old, but we’re already hearing rumours about the iPhone 20.

Not the iPhone 18, you understand, which is due up next in late 2026. We’re talking about Apple’s likely 2027 smartphone offering, which will apparently launch to celebrate the iPhone’s 20th anniversary (hence no iPhone 19).

The company did something similar to mark its tenth anniversary with the iPhone X in 2017, even though it launched alongside the iPhone 8.

Apple apparently has something special up its sleeve to mark the event, with a radical redesign planned. Here’s what we’ve heard.

iPhone 20 to drop all buttons

Apple has been in the habit of adding physical buttons to its iPhone in recent years – first the Action Button (technically a replacement, but still), then the Camera Control.

This has run counter to persistent rumours over the years that Apple is seeking to do away with mechanical buttons altogether. According to leaker Momentary Digital, Apple is reserving that particular trick for its 20th anniversary model.

“Apple’s iPhone solid-state button solution has completed functional verification and is scheduled for mass production on the 2027 iPhone 20,” they wrote (via machine translation) on Weibo.

With this phone, the power button, volume rocker, Action Button, and Camera Control will all exist as solid state buttons with haptic feedback giving the illusion of travel.

iPhone 20 to pack a major camera upgrade

iPhones are as much cameras as they are mobile phones these days, especially if you believe Apple’s marketing materials. Unsurprisingly, then, the iPhone 20 will herald a major camera upgrade.

Reports from Korea suggest that the Pro model, at least, will come with a Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor (LOFIC) camera sensor, which will be able to pull in more light for superior dynamic range.

So far we’ve seen Huawei implement a LOFIC sensor into its own Pura 80 Ultra phone, but the rest of the flagship competition should follow over the next couple of years – including Apple.