Apple isn't happy. The Cupertino tech firm is famously against any sort of leaks. It even held a conference earlier this year talking about how to prevent accidental reveals from happening, which of course leaked.
Part of the appeal of its products is the surprise factor, and while nothing can ever be a surprise in the tech world in this day and age, it tries its best to keep things under wraps.
That secrecy element affects the iPhone X, which Apple unveiled this past September and hasn't talked about much since. It's not coming until this November — hence, the lack of hands-on videos, reviews, and previews. One slipped through the cracks, though.
iPhone X Hands-On Video Leaks, With Consequences
A YouTuber apparently uploaded a hands-on video of the iPhone X earlier this week, showing the unreleased phone in all its glory. The uploader, Brooke Peterson, took a trip at Apple's campus and documented the experience, including several minutes' worth of footage of the iPhone X from within Caffè Macs.
The video remained live on YouTube for a couple days and was picked up by popular publications, including 9to5Mac and Apple Insider. Shortly thereafter, Apple promptly shut it down. It's still available on Reddit, however, because once something is uploaded to the internet, it'll never, ever go away.
Apple Dismisses The Uploader's Father
Apple then dismissed the girl's father, who was apparently an engineer at the company. In a tearful video, Peterson explains her father violated one of Apple's company rules by allowing her to film the yet-to-be-released device inside Apple's headquarters. Peterson claims Apple first requested for the video to be removed, but by then it was too late because sites had already picked up on it.
While Peterson's video itself seemed like a fairly innocent hands-on, the footage did include an iPhone X with special QR codes meant for employees only. The Notes app, which apparently included codenames of unannounced Apple devices, was also featured in the video. While a full dismissal of Peterson's father seems pretty harsh, filming inside Apple's campus is strictly prohibited, let alone filming one of this year's hottest devices that remains unreleased.
As The Verge notes, this is nothing new. Microsoft, for one, dismissed an employee after his son published Xbox 360 pictures ahead of its launch date. Peterson's father had been with the company for four years before being dismissed, having built the iPhone RF and wireless circuit design. Apple has yet to comment about the dismissal.
Thoughts about Peterson's hands-on video? What about her father's dismissal? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
