• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechThe Mobile Executive

The 10th Anniversary iPhone May Be the Best iPhone Yet

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 9, 2017, 10:50 AM ET

For the first time in three years, Apple is prepping a brand new design for the 2017 iPhone upgrade cycle. And based on early leaks and rumors, the new design is going to bring some sizzle back to the smartphone just in time for its 10th anniversary edition.

iPhone sales dipped last year for the first time since the iconic product went on sale in 2007. Some blamed smartphone market saturation, but Apple also failed to deliver its usual every-other-year overhaul of the iPhone’s exterior design. The 2016 iPhone 7 had many internal improvements, but on the outside not much changed beyond the controversial removal of the headphone jack.

That won’t be the case in 2017, according to numerous sources led by the usually-reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Apple won’t comment on any of the rumors, though CEO Tim Cook released a short statement commemorating the 10th anniversary and promising “the best is yet to come.”

The most noticeable rumored change this year will be on the front screen, where Apple is expected to eliminate entirely the framing bezels and even the physical home button. The new iPhone screen will run from edge to edge and top to bottom, according to the rumor mill. The home button will become a virtual, on screen button (similar to the effect current users can achieve if they turn on “AssistiveTouch” in the iPhone’s accessibility settings). That will allow Apple to either maintain its current 4.7 and 5.5-inch screen sizes while shrinking the overall size of the phones, according to some sources, or possibly allow slightly larger screens of 5 and 5.8-inches in the same current footprint sizes. The ultimate decision may rest on how many OLED screens can be manufactured as producers are straining to meet rapidly increasing demand.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

The screen itself may also use a newer technology called organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, which takes advantage of the electroluminescence in some organic materials. By replacing the silicon layer in a traditional LED with an organic polymer, an OLED screen can be more flexible and brighter while consuming less power.

Apple has improved the iPhone’s LED screen somewhat in recent years by increasing the range of colors it can show, making photos appear more lifelike for example. But the iPhone’s screen resolution of 750 pixels by 1,334 pixels has not changed in the past three models.

Meanwhile, competitors like Samsung have been adding more pixels and using OLED to create sharper on-screen images, a far more noticeable improvement than Apple’s color range improvement. Samsung’s Galaxy S7 phone released last year, for example, had a 5.1-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2560 pixels by 1440 pixels.

Apple is also rumored to be returning to an all-glass enclosure, dumping the aluminum back that arrived in 2012 with the iPhone 5. But the phone won’t be the too-easily-shattered disaster of the iPhone 4s era because Apple (AAPL) supplier Corning (GLW) has been hard at work in its materials labs. If Apple opts for Corning’s latest–Gorilla Glass 5–even a butter-fingered iPhone user could drop a phone from shoulder height onto a concrete floor without shattering the screen at least four out of five times, Corning says. Or maybe Gorilla Glass 6 will be ready by September to protect the iPhone from five out of five spills.

For more about the rumored virtual home button, watch:

Another big improvement could be arriving in the form of new battery charging technology. Last year’s iPhone got rid of the headphone jack, prompting many Apple fans to dump their corded headphones for wireless models, including Apple’s new AirPods. That potentially left the power cord as the only cable still needed–and that’s the rumored target of Apple’s wireless charging feature coming this year.

Some startups have been touting an advanced form of wireless charging that can send power to a device anywhere in the same room over the air. But at least so far, the most credible rumors about this year’s iPhone suggest a simpler wireless charging solution already seen in some competitors’ phones. Known as inductive charging, the technique charges a phone without any connecting cables, but the device must be in contact with a charging mat or stand. Apple is also working on true over-the-air wireless charging, Bloomberg reported last year.

Maybe it will be ready in time for the 11th anniversary edition.

About the Author
By Aaron Pressman
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

Latest in Tech

Brown
CybersecuritySocial Media
Mass shootings on campus give rise to a new kind of life-saving service journalism: an anonymous message board called Sidechat
By Leah Willingham and The Associated PressJanuary 8, 2026
3 hours ago
PoliticsDefense
Founder of $30 billion defense tech company Anduril embraces Trump’s threat to crack down: It’s ‘good to scare people sometimes’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJanuary 8, 2026
5 hours ago
Jassy
Workplace CultureAmazon
Amazon demands proof of productivity from employees, asking for list of accomplishments
By Jake AngeloJanuary 8, 2026
7 hours ago
kappos
CommentaryEconomics
The Nobel Prize winners have a lesson for us all
By David J. KapposJanuary 8, 2026
8 hours ago
Dario Amodei sits in a white chair in front of a pink background and speaks animatedly.
AIEye on AI
AI is boosting productivity. Here’s why some workers feel a sense of loss
By Sharon GoldmanJanuary 8, 2026
8 hours ago
Mark DesJardine
CommentaryM&A
Warner Bros. Discovery’s board isn’t choosing a deal — it’s avoiding one
By Mark DesJardineJanuary 8, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Law
Amazon is cutting checks to millions of customers as part of a $2.5 billion FTC settlement. Here's who qualifies and how to get paid
By Sydney LakeJanuary 6, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Future of Work
AI layoffs are looking more and more like corporate fiction that's masking a darker reality, Oxford Economics suggests
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 7, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Mark Cuban on the $38 trillion national debt and the absurdity of U.S. healthcare: we wouldn't pay for potato chips like this
By Nick LichtenbergJanuary 6, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Future of Work
'Employers are increasingly turning to degree and GPA' in hiring: Recruiters retreat from ‘talent is everywhere,’ double down on top colleges
By Jake AngeloJanuary 6, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Diary of a CEO founder says he hired someone with 'zero' work experience because she 'thanked the security guard by name' before the interview
By Emma BurleighJanuary 8, 2026
9 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Wednesday, January 7, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJanuary 7, 2026
1 day ago

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.