Apple's almost-glass iPhone

PLUS: YouTube just made it harder to make money off YouTube

Good morning, tech enthusiasts. Apple has been chasing the dream of a glass iPhone for a decade. On Monday, Jefferies said it was dead and downgraded the stock. Bloomberg then reported the 2027 Pro is alive — but it’ll be “glass-centric,” not all-glass.

The 20th-anniversary iPhone won’t quite be Jony Ive’s single-slab-of-glass dream, but it looks to be as close as Apple can actually build.

In today’s tech rundown:

  • Apple’s glass iPhone isn’t dead after all

  • YouTube makes it harder to earn money

  • The fight over a giant orbital mirror has begun

  • Myspace plans its comeback

  • Quick hits on other tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE

Image source: Images 2.0 / The Rundown

The Rundown: Apple’s 20th-anniversary iPhone isn’t dead. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports the glass-centric Pro redesign is still headed for 2027 — hours after Jefferies analyst Edison Lee told clients Apple had killed it.

The details:

  • The 2027 Pro models (V73 and V74 internally) reportedly put glass on the front and back, curving it into the sides around a metal band.

  • Bloomberg says it will be “glass-centric,” not all-glass. A more aspirational design-studio version was dropped after Apple hit problems joining the panels.

  • Apple locks iPhone designs a year before a fall debut, so the 2027 hardware is likely already in advanced testing and largely fixed, barring late hitches.

  • Earlier, Gurman reporting described a curved device with no display cutout, implying an under-display Face ID, but Apple hasn’t yet confirmed anything.

Why it matters: This redesign isn’t just an anniversary flex: Bloomberg says it’s coming to both 2027 Pro models, potentially setting Apple’s next flagship design language. John Ternus inherits the launch just months into the CEO job, with iPhone revenue up 22% last quarter and still generating roughly half of Apple’s sales.

YOUTUBE

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: YouTube is doubling the price of admission to full monetization. Starting February 1, 2027, new creators need 8K watch hours or 20M Shorts views before they earn a cent from ads or subscriptions.

The details:

  • Full ad and Premium monetization will now require 1K subscribers plus either 8K qualified watch hours in 365 days or 20M qualified Shorts views in 90 days.

  • The lower YPP tier isn’t changing, meaning smaller creators can still unlock fan funding and Shopping before qualifying for ad revenue.

  • Creators earning from Shorts will need to maintain 10M qualified Shorts views over 90 days; falling below that pauses Shorts ad and Premium revenue.

  • Existing partners must accept the terms by Jan. 31, 2027, and remain active: 1K watch hours/year, 1M Shorts views in 90 days, or two long-form videos/quarter.

Why it matters: YouTube is turning ad monetization from an early milestone into a much steeper gate, rewarding channels that can prove sustained scale rather than one viral run. For Shorts creators, the math is especially brutal: 20M views in 90 days means roughly 222K views every single day just to unlock ad and Premium revenue.

REFLECT ORBITAL

Image source: Reflect Orbital

The Rundown: Reflect Orbital has won FCC approval to test a satellite that will unfold a 60 ft. mirror in orbit and aim reflected sunlight at Earth after dark, reviving a sci-fi pitch while intensifying fears over light pollution, astronomy, and safety.

The details:

  • The California startup’s Eärendil-1 demo is licensed to operate for up to two years, testing if orbital reflectors can deliver localized “sunlight on demand.”

  • With Reflect Orbital aiming for 50K satellites by 2035, it says the beam would light a defined area briefly in what the company calls a soft, moonlike glow.

  • Astronomers and dark-sky advocates warn the project could disrupt observations, saturate telescope detectors, and damage researchers’ eyesight.

  • The FCC cleared the satellite's spectrum but ruled optical astronomy outside its scope; four groups have since petitioned to reverse it.

Why it matters: The test exposes a regulatory blind spot for orbital infrastructure: a communications regulator can authorize the spacecraft and its radio links without fully adjudicating what a bright, steerable object might do to the night sky, ecosystems, and scientific research.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Image source: Images 2.0 / The Rundown

The Rundown: Myspace is planning a reboot, with owners Tim and Chris Vanderhook teasing a relaunch in a new documentary, CNBC reports. Social media users sick of algorithmic feeds are cheering, but analysts say nostalgia doesn’t buy market share.

The details:

  • The comments come in Myspace, a Tommy Avallone documentary. "We're just waiting for the right time to do it," Tim Vanderhook says.

  • The brothers rebuilt Myspace from scratch in 2013 and lost roughly $150M. "It just became an onslaught of losses," Tim said.

  • Myspace drew about 115M monthly visitors at its 2008 peak, but Facebook overtook it as users favored cleaner design over highly customizable profiles.

  • The hard part: Rebuild the creative identity without the friction that killed it, then sell ads against Meta, TikTok, and YouTube with a fraction of the reach.

Why it matters: A Myspace reboot would test whether social-media fatigue is a real opening for smaller, less algorithmic networks or just a download spike that drops in a month. Its odds depend less on taking users from Instagram than on turning music and customization into a niche young users adopt without inheriting the old friction.

QUICK HITS

Apple is reportedly testing DRAM from CXMT — the Chinese chipmaker Washington labeled a military company — for iPhones and MacBooks sold in China.

Google’s Made by Google hardware event on Wednesday is expected to unveil slab and foldable Pixel 11 phones, new watches, and possibly a first AirTag-style tracker.

Erebor, a newly chartered, digital-first U.S. bank for crypto, AI, and defense startups, is nearing a $1.5B funding round that would value it at around $8B, the FT reports.

Spotify is reportedly testing a "Skip Ahead" button that lets Premium subscribers in the U.S. and UK jump past podcast ad breaks with one tap.

Google’s AI team has reportedly warned job applicants that the company’s automated HR screening filters can be unreliable.

A security researcher wrapped a car in a machine-generated pattern and drove it past a Flock camera at Def Con to keep the software from classifying it.

Lyntris, a U.S. defense-tech company combining AI, autonomy, sensing, and satellite-payload businesses, is targeting a valuation of up to $2.53B in an IPO.

Google has begun distributing rival Android app stores through the Play Store in the U.S., starting with Aptoide Games.

China's Long March 7A rocket blew up 85 seconds after liftoff Monday night, taking the ChinaSat-4B comsat with it, in the country's fourth launch failure this year.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin spent $100M+ fighting California's Prop 40, a one-time 5% wealth tax that would cost him $13.3B, reports TechCrunch.

COMMUNITY

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Rowan, Zach, Shubham, Jennifer, and Nate — The Rundown’s editorial team

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