Apple’s rumoured all-glass iPhone has been cancelled, according to Jefferies analyst Edison Lee.
To add some context, rumours have been circulating since 2025 that the tech giant was developing an all-glass iPhone, with the launch date expected to be as early as September, 2027. Lee’s claims, published in the Dow Jones publication Barron’s, said that his firm’s supply checks indicated the project was being scrapped due to poor production yield (a low number of defect-free units).
According to MacRumors, Lee previously viewed the all-glass iPhone as a plausible upcoming release, but the cancellation changed his view of upcoming models. Basically, Lee has said that the move is a major setback for pushing higher-end models, as memory costs continue to rise.
Interestingly, Lee also believes that Apple had planned to bring the all-glass styling to the iPhone Pro and Pro Max lines, which Lee described as a way in order to raise the average selling price of those models.
Now, Lee also pointed to Apple’s AI strategy and rising component costs for the 2027-planned iPhone 19 Pro Max as additional reasons for the downgrade. It was also noted that the slow rollout of Apple Intelligence made it harder for the company to justify equipping devices with the necessary RAM to power it.
Now, MacRumors noted that it is unclear whether the cancellation affects the entire 20th anniversary redesign or only the all-glass display. From my perspective, this sounds like the all-glass display is done, and I imagine there will be at least something done for the iPhone’s 20th anniversary.
