Apple's 20th Anniversary 'All-Glass iPhone' Reportedly Canceled; Jefferies Downgrades Rating

Multiple foreign media outlets reported that Apple (AAPL-US) has reportedly canceled its plan to launch an 'all-glass iPhone' to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the iPhone. Jefferies believes the project may have been halted due to poor production yields, depriving Apple of the opportunity to launch an ultra-premium iPhone and making it harder to offset rising memory costs through product upgrades.

Jefferies analyst Edison Lee downgraded Apple's rating from 'Hold' to 'Underperform' on Monday (the 10th), equivalent to a 'sell' recommendation, and lowered the price target from $285.56 to $263.66, one of the lowest on Wall Street.

Following the news, Apple's stock declined by about 1.5% on Monday to close at $308.26 per share.

Since 2025, the market has speculated that Apple might launch the all-glass iPhone in September 2027 to mark the 20th anniversary of the iPhone's release. Although Apple has never confirmed this plan, the company filed a patent for a 'six-sided glass enclosure' back in 2019.

Lee stated that recent supply chain investigations indicate the all-glass iPhone may have been canceled due to excessively low production yields. Yield refers to the proportion of products meeting quality standards during manufacturing; low yields increase costs and can make mass production unfeasible.

Jefferies estimates that if launched as planned, this commemorative model could have achieved a combined average retail price of $2,060, surpassing all previous iPhones. Apple may have also extended the all-glass design to future Pro and Pro Max models, further increasing average selling prices and profit margins.

Lee noted that the cancellation comes at a time of surging memory prices, making it particularly unfavorable for Apple. Without a major design upgrade, it may be harder to convince consumers to accept price hikes, and rising component costs will further pressure gross margins.

On the other hand, supply chain sources indicate Apple is considering increasing the memory of the 2027 iPhone 19 Pro Max from 12GB to 16GB to support more complex on-device AI computations.

However, Lee pointed out that the rollout of Apple Intelligence remains slow, and at this stage, it may not sufficiently justify the cost of memory upgrades. If AI features fail to deliver clear user value, Apple may struggle to pass on the increased costs to consumers.