Apple canceled its most ambitious iPhone design in years. Or did it? Depending on which analyst you believe this week, the answer is completely different.
Here’s the situation. Jefferies, a financial analyst firm, recently floated the idea that Apple’s all-glass iPhone Pro, widely expected to arrive in 2027, had been killed off due to low manufacturing yields. That’s the kind of rumor that spreads fast, because it’s specific and sounds credible. But now a counter-report from Bloomberg has pushed back, claiming the project is moving forward as planned.
So what’s actually going on? The most likely explanation is that both reports contain a slice of truth. Apple apparently explored an even more extreme all-glass design early in development, then pulled back from that version. What remains is still a dramatically glass-heavy phone, just not the maximalist concept that was first imagined. The Jefferies report may have caught wind of that early cancellation and run with it. That’s how the rumor machine works.
The phone in question would be the iPhone 19 or iPhone 20, depending on what naming convention Apple goes with when it lands in September 2027. Either way, it’s the 20th anniversary of the iPhone, and Apple clearly wants to mark that with something visually striking. The current plan, according to reports, is a design where glass curves around the edges of the device, held together by a thin metal band running through the middle. Not literally all glass, obviously. There’s still a frame, a motherboard, a battery. But glass is the story.
The design is also rumored to be a physical nod to Apple’s software direction. iOS has been moving toward what Apple calls Liquid Glass aesthetics, and the hardware is apparently meant to echo that. Whether that concept lands brilliantly or ends up feeling gimmicky in practice is a conversation for 2027.
What makes this credible is timing. According to the Bloomberg report, Apple typically locks in its iPhone design about a year before the September reveal. That means the 2027 model’s design should already be close to final. Major last-minute pivots at this stage would be unusual.
Still, 13 months of conflicting rumors remain between now and launch. Expect more of this.