Apple sued infamous leaker Jon Prosser and an affiliate Thursday, alleging that they concocted a “scheme to interrupt into an Apple growth iPhone, steal Apple’s commerce secrets and techniques, and revenue from the theft.”
Prosser revealed a number of renders showcasing iOS 26’s rumored visionOS-inspired glassy redesign months earlier than WWDC25. Whereas not utterly correct, his leaks have been just about on level.
Prosser’s iOS 26 leaks land him in authorized bother
Apple is famously secretive about its upcoming merchandise and software program releases. And it is usually equally aggressive about coming towards individuals who leak them. Previously, the corporate shut down Suppose Secret — a well-known Apple rumor weblog — for publishing particulars of an unreleased music breakout field.
This time, Apple goes after Jon Prosser for leaking iOS 19 particulars, earlier than it was formally introduced as iOS 26 at WWDC25.
Apple’s lawsuit, filed within the Northern District of California, accuses Jon Prosser and Michael Ramacciotti of “misappropriation of commerce secrets and techniques.” Their coordinated scheme triggered hurt to “Apple and its 1000’s of staff working tirelessly on iOS and iPad OS, who spend years working in secret on Apple’s new options and merchandise.”
Curiously, Apple claims it acquired an nameless e mail tip in early April, alleging that Jon Prosser’s iOS 19 leaks got here from Apple worker Ethan Lipnik.
The lawsuit alleges that Prosser collaborated with Ramacciotti — who was allegedly in want of cash — to achieve entry to Lipnik’s growth iPhone working iOS 19.
Prosser supposedly plotted with a pal to achieve entry to a growth iPhone
Apparently, Lipnik, or his pal Ramacciotti, spoke to Prosser over a FaceTime name and showcased the brand new iOS 19 interface. Prosser supposedly recorded the decision, recreating it through renders after which sharing it with the world.
For this, Ramacciotti seemingly used “location monitoring to find out when Mr. Lipnik could be gone for an prolonged interval, acquired his passcode, and broke into his Growth iPhone, which Mr. Lipnik had didn’t correctly safe in response to Apple’s insurance policies.” Ramacciotti then proceeded to video name Prosser and present him iOS 19’s visible adjustments, which the latter recorded.
He then re-created renders of the video for publishing on his YouTube channel for financial functions. Moreover, “he shared the recordings with at the very least one one who reported again to Mr. Lipnik that he acknowledged Mr. Lipnik’s condominium within the recording.”
Ramacciotti supposedly admitted to all of this by an audio be aware to Lipnik, which the latter shared with Apple.
Apple’s lawsuit alleges that Lipnik’s growth iPhone “contained a major quantity of extra Apple commerce secret data.” It doesn’t know the way a lot knowledge Prosser and Ramacciotti stole from Lipnik’s iPhone and fears they “will proceed to misuse its commerce secrets and techniques” with out judicial intervention.
Apple has already fired Lipnik for failing to guard confidential data and for not disclosing the leak when he grew to become conscious of it.
On his half, Prosser commented on X, saying he didn’t plot to entry Lipnik’s cellphone.
For the file: I definitely didn’t “plot” to entry anybody’s cellphone and was unaware of the scenario enjoying out.
— jon prosser (@jon_prosser) July 18, 2025
Jon Prosser shot to fame in 2020 with daring Apple leaks
Prosser rose to fame in 2020 throughout the pandemic for sharing particulars in regards to the 13-inch MacBook Professional and iPhone SE forward of their launch. In episode #441 of Cult of Mac’s podcast, The CultCast, recorded in Could 2020, Prosser revealed that Apple is engaged on a particular pair of Steve Jobs Heritage Version AR glasses.
At his peak, his leaks had the next accuracy score than even Mark Gurman, among the finest Apple reporters. And when one in every of his leaks didn’t pan out, he famously shaved off his eyebrows as a self-imposed penalty.
Apple’s lawsuit may simply put an finish to Prosser’s leak profession. We now have reached out to him for extra feedback.
Supply: MacRumors
