Update (Aug. 8, 26): Bloomberg's Mark Gurman dropped a report this morning claiming that the all-glass iPhone 20 is not canceled. "Apple Inc. is still planning to offer a glass-centric overhaul of the iPhone for the device’s 20th anniversary," Gurman said.
Apple's designs are reportedly "mostly locked in" and in advanced testing a year in advance, barring any mishaps. Gurman noted that the design will feature some metal holding the two glass halves of the phone together. The iPhone 20 is supposed to be seamless, it's unclear if this metal band will be visible or not.
Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone could be less exciting next year. Today, Jefferies analyst Edison Lee released a new report that downgraded Apple from sell to hold in his stock recommendations.
The report, "Roadmap to Higher-Priced iPhone Looks Challenging; Downgrade to UNPF," claims that Apple has canceled the all-glass version of the iPhone 20 due to "low yield."
"Apparent cancellation of the 20th anniversary all-glass iPhone is a big setback to raising iPhone's ASP and margin in the medium term," Lee wrote in the report. This means when Apple tests manufacturing the new phone, only a small amount of its test batches have proven viable.
Lee views this as a "major setback" for Apple's plans to sell more expensive iPhones to protect itself against rising memory costs. Apple has been reluctant to really blame memory costs for the recent rising prices, but it's clearly a factor.
Despite this, Lee and other analysts appear cautiously optimistic about Apple's long-term outlook, per TipRanks.
iPhone Ultra and iPhone 19 Pro Max insights
Lee's report suggests that Apple will return to the iPhone 19 nomenclature next year, not iPhone 20, but the Pro Max would get an upgrade to 16GB of RAM from 12GB.
Unfortunately, that could mean higher prices. Lee suggests that the forthcoming iPhone Ultra could cost as high as $2,199 for the 256GB storage version, while the 2TB model could be $3,099 based on estimates.
The Pro Max could go up by $100.
What the iPhone 20 is supposed to feature
The 20th anniversary edition is supposed to feature at least eight major upgrades. The biggest design change is a bezel-less, quad-curved display seamlessly attached to the glass and ceramic back panel. The Pro and Pro Max models would come in 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch sizes.
It could also feature a larger 200MP main camera, on par with Samsung's Ultra Galaxy S series. Additionally, with Samsung finally adding silicon-carbon batteries, it's rumored that Apple could also test out the next tech next year.
One of the more intriguing rumors is that Apple will get rid of the speaker grill on the bottom of the iPhone 20. Instead, "vibration technology" would push out sound. We may see this in the rumored OLED iPad mini that is supposed to launch this fall.
What's next?
Honestly, we don't know.
Lee's supply chain report doesn't reveal how Apple will pivot, just that the design was canceled. At its simplest, this means next year could just be another version of the iPhone 17 Pro design that is expected to continue with the forthcoming iPhone 18 Pro models.
We know Apple will want to do something to celebrate the 20th anniversary, but it might not be the big design revamp that came with the iPhone X for the 10th anniversary.
It all comes down to new CEO John Ternus as he finally takes the reins from Tim Cook. Navigating the RAM crisis and an iPhone redesign is a tough first assignment, but it should give us an idea of how Ternus' term will go.
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