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.

Comments

Oh Please!

[fustakrakich]

"Leaks" about Apple products are just hyped up press releases.

Re:Oh Please!

[Anubis IV]

Sure, Apple "leaks" stuff all the time, as most large organizations do, but those mostly follow the same few patterns that you see at all large organizations:
- They use "leaks" to clear out details that they'd rather not have sharing a news cycle with their big announcements
- They use "leaks" to prepare the media and the public for a shock it won't like (e.g. higher prices, no headphone jack, etc.)
- They use "leaks" to get people excited about products by hinting at features

What the "leaks" NEVER do is spoil events by stealing thunder from their keynote addresses, which is exactly what happened here when you look into exactly how much got out. In fact, this one gets even worse, since it...
...spoils nearly all of the major news for their annual iPhone launch
...spoils the first event at the brand new location they spent billions of dollars building
...spoils the event that coincides with the 10th anniversary of the iPhone
...spoiled details about an updated Apple TV that wasn't on most radars
...spoiled everything just two days before the event, utterly deflating it

So yes, Apple "leaks" things, but as a company that directly or indirectly employs hundreds of thousands of employees, they occasionally actually leak things too, and this DEFINITELY falls into that latter case.

Re:Oh Please!

[DontBeAMoran]

The iPhone 8 is literally an uglier iPhone 7 that will be easier to break due to the glass back.

And even that is not new at all. The iPhone 4 already had an easy-to-break glass back.

Apple? Surprise?

[known_coward_69]

You could have surprised me. Every release they "leak" the details the morning of the presentation. This just happened a day early

Re:Like it matters when Cook is presenting

[Dixie_Flatline]

Tim Cook does virtually none of the presenting—most of what he does is the feel-good stuff, financials and introducing other people, so I'm not sure what you're complaining about. He's taking on the stuff that nobody could make particularly interesting anyway.

Re:RTFS much?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yoz, apparently it was too much for you to read as well ... it's the master build not the source code. Yuuggge difference.

Re:Let Craig Federighi do the whole presentation.

[93 Escort Wagon]

... and he apparently has time to post comments here on Slashdot!

I'm confused

[hattable]

Did slashdot just link to an article posted on slashdot itself as a story?

Re:RTFS much?

[Anonymous Coward]

A GM build != source code. We will see the GM build dropped or slated to drop tomorrow. iOS source, code, on the other hand is kept secret, and if there were a leak of that, there would be witch hunts.