> <i>It appears to be the first time Apple has used the method to catch a source of internal leaks.</i><p>Definitely not. One of the infamous examples we know about is that <i>Think Secret</i> was forced to shut down after publishing a planted leak about a FireWire audio interface.<p><a href="https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_subpoenas_mac_rumor_sites_over_audio_product" rel="nofollow">https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_subpoenas_mac_...</a>
Has a single significant Apple launch <i>not</i> leaked in the last decade? I can't think of any. With the scale of the company and corporate loyalty being what they are these days, it just seems inevitable that many things will leak. Yet Apple persist in a hyper-vigilant program of leak prevention.<p>There's definitely still huge value in the newsworthiness of the launches. Apple get a lot of free media coverage, and for the most part the press treat the actual launches as news because that final official confirmation matters much more than tenuous leaks.<p>But I often wonder if the top down focus on secrecy and the famous leak prevention programs are more motivated by the strong desire for <i>focus</i>. One of the challenges of keeping a big company effective is combating the tendency for well-meaning collaboration and suggestion making to turn into sluggish bureaucracy and committees. Secrecy a <i>very</i> powerful tool in optimizing a corporate culture, and reminding everyone that it is definitely not ok to share things has that big benefit too.
> analyst941 had such a source, and was able to reveal numerous details about iOS 17. That includes a promise of significant changes to the Control Center, the detail that Apple Maps Lock Screen directions could get a new look, a new grid-based user interface for working with Lock Screens, revamped UIs for the Wallet and Health apps, and more.<p>Oh wow, with such incredible upgrades coming along I’m not surprised they’re cracking down on it. /s<p>Every so often, the hype is worth protecting. The m-series device releases and the fabled VR headset are the big ones. iPhone remains a good phone, but Apple really hasn’t done anything groundbreaking with it for some time.<p>Nonetheless, it’s their company policy and the sister got caught red-handed, and by such simple means. I don’t know why analyst941 felt that deleting their account 24 hours after posting the thread was necessary for their safety though.
> According to analyst941’s post, Apple might take legal action against both the former employee and the tipster.<p>Assuming the tipster is not under any NDA, is there anything Apple could take them to court for?
I remember the rumors of a 2025 release date and thinking that is oddly far into the future. If you were deeply involved in the project you would know that those dates weren't accurate so it must have been someone on the periphery. In that case the number of possible date combinations will be far fewer than the number of people who need to be informed so it seems this must have been a targeted communication to someone Apple suspected was leaking information.
It's incredibly stupid to leak like this, plus it's a real f-you to the people working on the stuff. If I were on a product that got leaked I'd be pissed seeing my unfinished work out there. Looking at this person's past leaks[1] their eagerness for approval is on full display, and it's just a bunch of details that do nothing but diminish the magic.<p>The only real utility leaking has to people is stuff like 'do I buy now or wait' but that can usually be determined by supply chain status dredged up by rumors sites. Sometimes it's best if we don't treat everything like we <i>have to know it right now</i> like every day is Information Christmas or something.<p>[1] <a href="https://forums.macrumors.com/members/anonymous-a-s.1321969/#recent-content" rel="nofollow">https://forums.macrumors.com/members/anonymous-a-s.1321969/#...</a>
I don't get why employees leak like this. They know full well that the company does not want to reveal info and the employees are told not to leak too. I don't get what they get by leaking. In this case the girl is not even getting any money. Even if they get money it will never be enough to cover for a 6 figure salary + stock options. Such foolish people in this world throwing hard work away. If you don't believe in secrecy or believe in revealing info for what ever reason, just dont join the company, it's very simple.
These are infamous in gaming. Early PS5 devkits had a unique pattern on their casing. So the first time a photo of one was leaked, Sony knew who had done it. Video games have specific markers on maps to show who's footage it is. Software sometimes have dots in the bar at the top to reflect a unique user in a webstream.<p>It's basically stenography at the end of the day.
> <i>Leaks spoil Apple’s surprise “one-last-thing” approach to product unveilings</i><p>I remember Steve doing "one last thing" announcements a long time ago, but have they done any in the post-Steve era? I can't remember the last one, TBH.
Can anyone recommend a book or resource for an introduction to spy craft? I’m sure there are more approaches like ‘canary traps’ that would be useful mechanisms to understand.
I remember at a job interview at Apple asking some of them about how they saw rumor sites. They told me they do definitely read rumors sites to see what's happening in the company. One interesting point they told me was that sometimes things are so far off that they are incredulous to the rumors. Others are so close to home that they wonder who is leaking. They declined to answer about whether any internal investigations took place.
So while analyst941's sister was an Apple employee who signed an NDA, analyst941 was not? Then what case could Apple possibly have against analyst941?
Guy has genuinely ruined his and his siters's life over some stupid little details about some phone operating system, was it worth it? I really don't understand the people who regular these 10 different apple-centric forums, either readers/posters. Who cares about tiny design changes or a different bevel? Go for a walk, start a family.
> To stop secret info from slipping out, Apple silos its employees, giving them information only on a need-to-know basis.<p>Annoying internal secrecy, open plan offices, and paying part of your salary in prestige (rather than dollars) are all things that make working at certain companies less attractive to me.
In this day and age, it's just more fun for me to hear what companies are working on than it is to have a "big" "surprise" once a year.<p>Also, I love that there's drama over a leak that is so boring I can't even be bothered to look at it.
Again: the site's cookie selection wouldn't know what GDPR and privacy were if they came up and bit it, but dark patterns are its old friend...