Earlier this year, a strange social experiment went viral when a woman was recorded using a transparent phone in public. While it turned out to be a block of acrylic glass, it appears that Apple has something equally bigger in store for the 20th anniversary iPhone. Apple is expected to launch the device in 2027, and recent reports claim that the company will source new OLED technology from Samsung called COE to make the display brighter and thinner than the current versions.
Apple’s 20th anniversary iPhone could adopt Samsung’s COE OLED display technology, but the change comes with trade-offs
COE stands for Color Filter on Encapsulation, and it could change the way iPhone displays are made, as per reports from ETNews. The current OLED screens use a polarizing film to cut down reflections and boost contrast, but that layer also blocks a significant amount of light, which results in the screen being less bright and inefficient. When the process removes the polarizing layer, COE panels allow more light to pass through, which makes the screen thinner as well as brighter, while also being more power efficient.
For users, the end result is simple, the display on the 20th anniversary iPhone will be brighter and thinner, ultimately leading to the entire device featuring a sleeker form factor, combined with other factors. However, the new technology comes with a trade-off, as without the polarizer, the reflections and glare could become more noticeable, especially in outdoor scenarios. Apple will need to compensate for this with an improved anti-reflective coating or other refinements down to the pixel level. Apple has added an anti-reflective coating on the iPhone 17 Pro models, which could mean that the company is heading in the right direction, as the technology would only get better.
Since the 20th anniversary completes two decades of the iPhone, we can safely presume that Apple will go to great lengths to achieve this milestone, bolstering easier readability and a brighter panel altogether. Note that Samsung has already experimented with the new display technology, especially on its Galaxy Z-branded foldables, and the company will see fit to bring it to next year’s Galaxy S26 Ultra as well.