Apple shares fell 1.53 percent on Tuesday and slipped a further 0.23 percent overnight after analysts at Jefferies said supply-chain checks indicated the company had cancelled an ambitious all-glass iPhone slated for a September 2027 launch. The note, written by analyst Edison Lee and colleagues, described the move as a major setback for efforts to push average selling prices higher at a time when memory costs are soaring.
Jefferies warns of canceled all-glass iPhone
The Jefferies team had expected the device to carry a price tag of around $2,060 and believed its design language would eventually lift prices across the wider iPhone lineup. With that project now shelved, they said the foldable iPhone becomes the only key driver of higher average sales prices and margins. Jefferies cut its earnings estimates accordingly.
"Our supply chain checks suggest that the all-glass iPhone [scheduled for launch in September 2027] has been canceled,"
The downgrade adds to a rare consensus on Wall Street: at least six firms now rate Apple as a sell, an unusual position for the world's most valuable consumer technology company.
Gurman reports glass-centric alternative
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg offered a slightly different picture. Citing sources familiar with the matter, he said Apple still intends to launch a "glass-centric" model in 2027 as the company manages a leadership transition from longtime chief executive Tim Cook to incoming boss John Ternus. The distinction matters: "all-glass" and "glass-centric" are not the same thing.
According to Gurman, the new phones, known internally as V73 and V74, will feature glass on the front and back that curves into the sides, with a metal band running around the middle. He also confirmed that a more radical all-glass prototype championed by Apple's design studio was scrapped early because engineers could not solve the problem of joining glass panels reliably at mass-production volumes.
"A more aspirational version championed by Apple's design studio used even more glass, instead of metal, but was scrapped early on. With that approach, the company encountered problems connecting the glass panels together. The design didn't hold up when Apple had to figure out how to produce it at large volumes."
Wall Street turns cautious
The conflicting reports leave investors weighing two narratives. Jefferies sees a clear cancellation that removes a premium price catalyst. Gurman's sources suggest a scaled-back but still distinctive glass-heavy design remains on the roadmap. Either way, the foldable iPhone, still in development, now carries more weight as the next potential growth lever.
Transition to Ternus adds uncertainty
The episode arrives at a delicate moment for Apple. John Ternus, currently senior vice president of hardware engineering, is widely seen as the heir apparent to Tim Cook. His first major product decisions will be scrutinised for signs of whether he can sustain the premium pricing strategy that has defined the Cook era. The all-glass project's fate, whether fully cancelled or merely reshaped, will be an early indicator of his risk appetite and the influence of the design studio under his leadership.
For now, the market has voted with its feet. Shares remain under pressure, and the sell-side consensus has hardened. The next concrete signal will likely come from Apple's own product roadmap updates, expected later this year, and any guidance offered when John Ternus formally takes the helm.