Apple sues leaker Jon Prosser for stealing iOS secrets

Prosser is accused of stealing commercialized secrets to leak details of iOS 26’s plan earlier its announcement astatine WWDC.

Apple has sued the well-known leaker Jon Prosser for the alleged theft of commercialized secrets related to iOS 26. Prosser has been accused of tasking different man, Michael Ramacciotti, with secretly accessing an Apple employee’s improvement iPhone and utilizing that accusation to study connected Apple’s planned changes successful the then-unannounced iOS 26.

According to the lawsuit, Apple claims that Prosser offered Ramacciotti “money oregon a aboriginal occupation opportunity” successful speech for entree to a institution telephone belonging to his person Ethan Lipnik, an Apple bundle technologist moving connected iOS. Ramacciotti allegedly learnt Lipnik’s iPhone passcode, utilized “location-tracking” to find erstwhile he’d beryllium distant from location for an extended period, and past accessed the iPhone moving a improvement mentation of the mobile OS. Apple says that Ramacciotti showed the bundle to Prosser implicit a video call, which Prosser recorded, shared with others, and utilized to make renders of the caller designs.

Apple says it recovered retired the details of what happened successful April from an anonymous email from idiosyncratic who claimed to person seen Prosser’s signaling of the telephone and recognized Lipnik’s apartment. The institution besides claims to person a dependable enactment sent by Ramacciotti to Lipnik, apologizing for the incidental and claiming that the subterfuge was Prosser’s idea, which Lipnik successful crook provided to Apple. Lipnik was fired by Apple for failing to decently travel its policies astir securing unreleased software.

Prosser released respective videos connected his Front Page Tech and Genius Bar Podcast YouTube channels covering leaked features successful the caller mentation of iOS, which was past expected to beryllium called iOS 19. In January 2025 helium released “your precise archetypal look astatine iOS 19,” revealing a redesign to the camera app. In March came a look astatine the redesigned Messages app, and successful April helium published “the biggest iOS leak ever,” with a archetypal look astatine Apple’s caller Liquid Glass plan language.

Prosser has responded to the suit connected X, insisting that Apple’s relationship is “not however the concern played retired connected my end,” and claiming to person grounds to that effect. “I did not ‘plot’ to entree anyone’s phone. I did not person immoderate passwords. I was unaware of however the accusation was obtained.”

In its ineligible filing, Apple asks for some damages and a tribunal bid preventing Prosser from disclosing Apple’s commercialized secrets again. The institution adds that portion iOS 26 has since been announced to the public, its secrets are inactive astatine hazard due to the fact that the improvement telephone “contained different unannounced plan elements.”