Overview
- Jefferies analyst Edison Lee said on Monday that supply‑chain checks show Apple canceled an all‑glass 20th‑anniversary iPhone because of low production yields, triggering a Jefferies downgrade and a drop in Apple shares.
- Bloomberg and several other reports counter that Apple still plans a glass‑heavy redesign for 2027 but scaled back the original all‑glass concept to a curved front‑and‑back design supported by a metal band.
- TrendForce estimates the bill of materials for a 256GB iPhone 18 Pro is about 38% higher than the iPhone 17 Pro, with memory now the dominant cost driver due to large DRAM and NAND price increases.
- Manufacturing risks include low yields on quad‑curved Samsung panels that can show edge distortion and reduced brightness, plus a DRAM wafer‑level packaging bottleneck that could hold back A20 Pro chip assembly at TSMC and tighten early inventory.
- The immediate roadmap still points to a September reveal for iPhone 18 Pro models and Apple’s first foldable (reportedly called iPhone Ultra) while Apple weighs price, financing and supplier moves to cope with higher component costs.