Apple makes terrific hardware, and serves an astoundingly refined software to go with it. The company, unfortunately, also follows a strategy where it repeats the same fundamental design and innovation stack for years.
In a nutshell, you get to see a remarkably new hardware from Apple once or twice in a decade. The year 2027 is shaping up to be one such year, and it seems buyers will be spoiled for choice with the sheer diversity of upgraded products in two years from now.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has just given an outlook of Apple’s 2027 roadmap, and it looks like a massive revision is on the horizon. As a customer, I am inclined to skip the intermittent product releases and will save up until the 2027 lineup is here and dent my wallet.
A foldable iPhone cometh
The mythical will get real in 2027, it seems. As per Bloomberg, the foldable iPhone could arrive in 2027, at last, following years of rumors and speculations. Apple missed the foldable train by a healthy few years, but it seems the long wait will be well worth it.
Apple has reportedly managed to remove the foldable display crease almost entirely on its upcoming phone. The vertical crease is one of the long-standing hardware challenges that is yet to be fully addressed. Oppo’s Find N5 got the closest to offering a crease-less display, but hasn’t fully eliminated the vertical ridge.
If Apple has indeed managed to solve the crease problem, the foldable iPhone will herald a new era for the entire category. Rumors also suggest that Samsung has snagged the display orders from Apple and created an in-cell panel that is thinner, brighter, and offers better color reproduction than an average flexible panel.
Samsung hasn’t served this next-gen flexible panel on its own foldable phones, yet. Apple will reportedly charge north of $2,000 for its next. A thinner display assembly also means Apple will chase the same kind of chassis slimming that it is currently eyeing for the iPhone 17 Air.
A special anniversary iPhone
The tenth-anniversary iPhone, dubbed the X, was a special one. It was a radical design shift for Apple, and kick-started an aesthetic trend that we continue to see on iPhones to date. The 20th anniversary iPhone, set to arrive in 2027, could stir a similar change.
In the latest edition of his PowerOn newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes that for 2017. Apple is planning “a mostly glass, curved iPhone — without any cutouts in the display.”
Other reports suggest that this particular model will embrace an edge-to-edge, all-screen design without any cutouts on the front. The front camera and Face ID module will reportedly move beneath the display panel.
Now, Apple won’t be the first to use under-display camera modules. From Samsung to niche Chinese brands such as Nubia, a healthy few brands have experimented with the idea. The biggest problem, so far, has been the sub-par quality as the camera sensor is fed light data passing through a layer of spaced-out pixels.
In addition to an all-glass look, we also came across reports that Apple was considering a port-less iPhone that would skip on other physical inlets, such as a SIM slot, too. It could also employ one of Apple’s in-house network modems. Overall, the 20th anniversary iPhone looks primed to emerge as the next big shift for Apple.
Apple smart glasses, at last
Apple’s smart glasses project has been a bit of an enigma so far. But it seems the company has finally set the course. According to Bloomberg, Apple’s immediate goal is to tackle the dominance of Meta with a pair of smart glasses armed with cameras, but no internal display unit.
These glasses will reportedly open the doors for Visual Intelligence, a feature that relies on generative AI to make sense of the world around, as seen by the camera.
“Apple is currently exploring non-AR glasses that use cameras to scan the surrounding environment and rely on AI to assist users,” reports Bloomberg.
Google has already rolled out a similar capability called Gemini Live (with Project Astra), and Meta is on course with a similar upgrade with its hit smart glasses made in collaboration with Ray-Ban. Apple’s next major milestone would be true AR glasses, though they are still a bit further into the future.
In that time frame, Apple is also rumored to introduce a more affordable version of the Vision Pro headset that will also be lighter and more comfortable. These will be followed by a full-fledged top-end successor that is said to work in tethered mode, hooked via a wired connection to a Mac for processing duties.
Cameras for your ears, and wrists
Apple’s next big bet with wearable devices is apparently arming them with a camera. Apple is reportedly eyeing smartwatches and wireless earbuds fitted with a camera sensor. Meta, surprisingly, reached the prototyping stage for this idea years ago, but ultimately canned the project.
Apple will reportedly put a camera on the mainline Apple Watch as well as the pricier Ultra model. On the former, the camera lens will be positioned as part of the display kit, but on the Ultra variant, the camera sensor will be positioned on the side, closer to the rotating crown.
In addition to Visual Intelligence, the camera could also lend a hand with wellness capabilities such as fall detection, assisting with workouts, and communication with emergency responders in case of a mishap.
Apple is also eyeing a similar camera upgrade for the AirPods, alongside a real-time translation facility. Once again, cameras on the earbuds should open the doors for better AI-based world analysis chops and enable more health-centric capabilities.
We have already seen some pretty useful implementations of AI on headphones. Earlier this month, a team at the University of Washington showcased AI headphones that can translate multiple speakers at the same time. Interestingly, the project was driven by Apple’s M2 silicon.
So far, it seems as if the year 2027 will mark a true return to form for Apple. In addition to exciting designs and remarkable hardware innovations, the company is also expected to serve a souped-up generative AI stack. A revamped Siri, with more advanced natural language capabilities, could just be the cherry on top.
