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Apple Suffers 'Major iPhone X Leak'
Details of new iPhones and other forthcoming Apple devices have been revealed via an apparent leak. From a report: Two news sites were given access to an as-yet-unreleased version of the iOS operating system. The code refers to an iPhone X in addition to two new iPhone 8 handsets. It also details facial recognition tech that acts both as an ID system and maps users' expressions onto emojis. One tech writer said it was the biggest leak of its kind to hit the firm. [...] "As best I've been able to ascertain, these builds were available to download by anyone, but they were obscured by long, unguessable URLs [web addresses]," wrote John Gruber, a blogger known for his coverage of Apple. "Someone within Apple leaked the list of URLs to 9to5Mac and MacRumors. I'm nearly certain this wasn't a mistake, but rather a deliberate malicious act by a rogue Apple employee." Neither Mr Gruber nor the two Apple-related news sites have disclosed their sources. However, the BBC has independently confirmed that an anonymous source provided the publications with links to iOS 11's golden master (GM) code that downloaded the software from Apple's own computer servers. It's a big blow to Apple, which uses surprise as a key element at its events. The leak could take some wind out of its sails as it looks to wow consumers. In 2012, Tim Cook had said the company was planning to "double down on secrecy." At the quarterly earnings call, he blamed the leaks about the upcoming iPhone models as one of the reasons that slowed down the sales of current generation iPhone models. However, an analysis published over the weekend found that Apple itself has been the source of several of these leaks in the years since. Earlier this year, the company held a meeting to boast about its internal progress to curb leaks. The hour-long recording of the meeting ironically got leaked. Nearly all details, except the final press renders of the new iPhone models, have leaked. In a subsequent post, Gruber wrote: The BBC doesn't say definitively that the leak was sent by an Apple employee, but I can state with nearly 100 percent certainty that it was. I also think there's a good chance Apple is going to figure out who it was. [...] That person should be ashamed of themselves, and should be very worried when their phone next rings. Moments ago, 9to5Mac reported about a new tvOS firmware leak, which appeared "to be out in the wild today" that details the upcoming features of the next generation Apple TV streaming device.
"Leaks" about Apple products are just hyped up press releases.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
You could have surprised me. Every release they "leak" the details the morning of the presentation. This just happened a day early
It's been so long that any phone producer has come out with some major game changing technology that all this leaking and presentation stuff has become one giant marketing circle-jerk.
When rockstars party, the music isn't all that important. The important thing is that the druges are pure and the groupies ready for anything.
I realize most anyone would pale as a presenter in comparison to Steve Jobs... but Tim Cook really is the wrong guy to have up there. He could announce "Apple has established a moonbase" and somehow make it sound boring.
Additionally - if the leak regarding turning one's facial expressions into emoji really is "damaging" to Apple, then tomorrow's presentation is going to be quite the snooze fest. Seriously, is that supposed to be a surprise announcement that's supposed to wow people?
#DeleteChrome
How about: "Apple suffers planned media hype disguised as leak."
" The leak could take some wind out of its sails as it looks to wow consumers."
Why would it? This makes no sense at all.
At the quarterly earnings call, he blamed the leaks about the upcoming iPhone models as one of the reasons that slowed down the sales of current generation iPhone models.
Nope, that's BS for investors. I will name three other more pertinent reasons:
Firstly, yearly upgrades are very incremental for all intents and purposes. I'd even venture to say that the modern smartphone warrants an upgrade every two to three years.
Secondly, iPhones are not so much better than their sub $400 Android counterparts. They are better, true, but they don't justify a twofold increase in the price.
Thirdly, you cannot expect to sell in increasing quantities absolutely the same bulky design with huge bezels for three consecutive years. People expect to get some tangible changes from their upgrades, and a new design (even if it's slightly different as seen in the car industry) is quite important.
Hardly leaks then. It's just that people who examine these firmware know to look for information which wasn't contained in the betas.
Does it even matter? All the Apple tech is 1-2 generations behind other phones. When you have nothing cutting edge, what is there to leak? I can go look up specs for old Android phones. Is that considered an Apple leak?
I know it's too much to ask people to RTFA, but you can at least read the summary.
This wasn't a features leak -- this was a leak of the entire iOS 11 Golden Master source code. Apparently for all current Apple products at that. Sure, some people have used the leak to divine what new features are in iOS 11 -- but the real damage is that the entire source for iOS 11 GM is now out there in the wild.
That certainly isn't something that happens prior to every presentation.
Yaz
Because Apple doesn't actually sell things because they are good things. They sell things because someone gets up on stage and does some fancy salesmanship and shows off a shiny thing and says "Look at this shiny thing! You can buy it right now, go do that!" And there are many stupid people who do that. But, if they have a day in advance to think "Oh, that's not actually so amazing," then even some of the stupid people will have had enough time for their brains to register that the shiny thing is actually worse than what they already have.
Maybe the leak wasn't deliberate?
Is it possible that an employee navigated to one of those links while they weren't on a corporate VPN? e.g. they had the link and clicked on it while on a home or public wifi? Then a compromised router could have detected the URL and passed it on.
Or maybe they had a web-page open while on corpnet where there was an internal announcement/email that mentioned the URL, and then they took their laptop home and the web-page was still open, and they accidentally clicked the link without realizing that their VPN hadn't yet finished connecting?
Or might the URL have been in an employee's browser history? and malware got on their computer and fetched the browser history?
They should just let Craig Federighi do the whole presentation.
He's got the chiseled features of a strong, good looking man. He's got a fun, yet confident, demeanor. He commands respect, yet does so politely and without forcing it out of anyone. He's got the technical chops. He's a family man. And of course, he's an excellent public speaker.
He's been the best part of the past Apple presentations he's been involved with.
He should be the public face of Apple. He's a man that other men respect. He's a man that women find irresistible.
He's a leader. A true American leader.
The world is coming to an end.
It's time for my nap.
kinda like when that woman stole the death star plans and leaked them to the rebels?
Did slashdot just link to an article posted on slashdot itself as a story?
OMG facts!
That person should be ashamed of themselves, and should be very worried when their phone next rings.
Can this guy be any more of a shill for Apple?
Actual sales data does not appear to support this. Where Apple has released launch day data, it appears to have only been 1-2 weeks of its average weekly run rate. i.e. ~90-95 % if sales are coming from people who by your arguement, would not buy
Sometimes launch day is significant compared to competitors - it's not unusual for Apple to sell more devices at launch day , than Samsung does for its Galaxy flagship range in an entire quarter.
But it's a tiny fraction of Apples overall sales throughout the year.
That person should be ashamed of themselves, and should be very worried when their phone next rings.
Fear and regret? Sure. Now one of the richest companies will use its impressive legal assets to try to "make an example out of you."
But shame? Eh, it's unethical and unwise but I don't see how this is particularly shameful.
"Security"!!!
They sure have a crappy record of it.
"...but they were obscured by long, unguessable URLs [web addresses],"
Consider your audience, Slashdot. Do your readers really need to be told that URLs are "web addresses"?
FFS, this is like telling a conference of cardiologists that "blood" is the "red stuff inside the veins and arteries".
Now you can have a Jesus booth from THX 1138 in real life. It can read your facial expression and ask you "What's Wrong?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Amazing that Apple has managed to pull the same trick off for decades.
major IBS leak!
diarrhoea up at 11.
The quote that Apple will "double down on secrecy" is in regards to protection of users' confidential data. It is being misused in the context of this post.
Even if there were no leaks, Apple stuff had been meh these days. :(
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Just like that guy who "accidentally" left a prototype phone in a bar a few years back.
Hook, line and sinker.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
It's a big blow to Apple, which uses surprise as a key element at its events
Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Ok, our two weapons are fear and surprise...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It musta leaked poo.
From TFA summary: "[...] The leak could take some wind out of its sails as it looks to wow consumers. [...]" That wind smells like flatulence.
Liberals thinking - its okay to leak stuff. #krama for apple. libtards. I find this leak hilarious
Amazing that Apple has managed to pull the same trick off for decades.
What's really amazing is the amount of gullible people falling for it... and more than once at that.
Is it really called iPhone-X? If so, there's no way they can avoid being compared to the X-phone.
So unless they've made a huge step forward, it's not going to compare favorably.
Indeed. Fortunately for Apple, you're the only one in on this little secret. The rest of the world just merrily goes along in a fog, slavishly buying paying a premium for Apple products over and over and over again. All just because of marketing.