Near-Borderless Anniversary iPhone Pro Still on Track Despite Display Tech Delays [Report]

The 20th-anniversary iPhone Pro remains on track for 2027 with a near-borderless display that curves around all four edges, but two of the panel upgrades Apple had considered for the phone are now expected to miss it, according to ETNews. The report points to rising memory costs and technology that is not yet mature enough to meet Apple's requirements.

The two technologies on hold are Color Filter on Encapsulation, or COE, and Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide Plus, or LTPO+. COE integrates the polarizer into the panel itself to improve efficiency and allow a thinner structure, while LTPO+ replaces LTPO driving transistors with oxide transistors to cut excimer laser annealing steps and improve power efficiency. Those upgrades are separate from the four-sided bending display.

Industry sources cited in the report give two reasons for the pause. Memory-price inflation, described as chipflation, is already pushing up iPhone manufacturing costs and leaving less room to absorb costly display changes. Apple is also believed to be seeking more advanced performance than current COE and LTPO technologies can deliver, while materials and process technologies may not yet meet its required level of maturity. No revised timeline for adopting either technology has been set.

Samsung Display and LG Display had been preparing the technologies with Apple for the anniversary model and have been adding capacity in expectation of higher-value panel orders. LG Display announced a KRW 1.26 trillion investment package in June 2025, including KRW 700 billion for panel-line upgrades at Paju and KRW 560 billion for module lines in Vietnam, followed by a further KRW 1.1 trillion facility investment in April 2026 with equipment orders underway.

Delaying adoption would push back those suppliers' chance to ship higher-value panels, one industry source said, and is unlikely to be welcome news for companies that have started investing in related equipment.

Apple previously used the 10th anniversary in 2017 for the iPhone X, which brought the first OLED display, the removal of the Home button and the introduction of Face ID. For the 20th anniversary, the company is expected to use glass front and back panels that curve into the sides for the Pro models codenamed V73 and V74, joined by a metal band. That curved-glass design aligns with reports of a micro-curved, polarizer-less display said to bend slightly on all four sides to create a nearly bezel-free look.