Two well-known leakers, Kang and Duan Rui, report that Apple has sent them letters asking them not to reveal any details about future products. If they do not comply, Apple will take legal action.
According to posts on Kang's Weibo account, Apple recently hired a law firm to send cease and desist letters to a number of leakers. The letter reportedly warned the leakers that they must not disclose information about unreleased Apple projects, as it would give Apple's competitors valuable information and "could mislead customers as what is disclosed may not necessarily match." Apple reportedly seized screenshots of Kang's Weibo posts as evidence, in which he discusses issues he has experienced with the iPhone, product release dates and purchase recommendations for his followers, as well as more casual posts.
Puzzles and word games also seem to be a problem
Kang continued to express his personal opinion on the situation. explained he said he never shared unreleased product images or sold his information, saying Apple must already be bothered by "riddles and puns" about unreleased projects. Apple leaks, vaguely referred to as "dreams," have been popularized in recent years by leakers like "L0vetodream," and have provided a fun mechanism for some insiders to hint at Apple's future plans without giving too much away. Moreover, Kang argued that he had not misled consumers and said he was still within his rights to express his feelings about Apple's smartphone experience, noting that the company should stay off its Weibo.
Kang was one of the most reliable Apple leakers
Kang has been one of the most reliable Apple leakers, with consecutive detailed leaks about Apple's future product and software plans that turned out to be accurate. As a reminder, Kang leaked the full specifications of the iPhone 12 lineup and HomePod mini before they were unveiled. According to AppleTrack, Kang also correctly leaked a wealth of information about the iPhone SE 2020, Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 6, iPad 8, and iPad Air 4 before their release. In addition, Kang leaked extensive details about Apple's software updates for WWDC 2020.
Have the sources been compromised?
A copy of the letter has not yet been obtained by the media. It is likely that the letter is a cease and desist order from Apple sent to all known leakers in China. Kang, Duan Rui, L0vetodream and others from China have proven to be reliable sources for leaks. But if their sources have been compromised, these individuals' leaks may now have come to an end.
New development process prevents software leaks
Apple's approach to leakers is not everything, however. Interestingly, the company has already made internal changes to the development process to prevent software leaks. We remember the wave of leaks about iOS 14. At that time, the entire operating system was leaked because an iPhone 11 Pro model with an internal version of iOS 14 came into circulation - about the report: "This is how iOS 14 came into the wild". With iOS 15, this was not the case. Why? Within the internal files of iOS 15 (Beta 1), each major feature introduced this year has a unique identifier (also known as a flag) associated with a "disclosure requirement." During the internal development of iOS 15, this allowed Apple to only release certain features and changes to certain engineers and designers, thus reducing the number of Apple employees who knew the details about the changes in iOS 15. (Image: Apple)
