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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 several leakers. The letter allegedly warned the leakers not to disclose information about unreleased Apple projects, as doing so could provide valuable information to Apple's competitors 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's 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 claimed that he had never shared unreleased product images or sold his information. He argued that Apple must already be bothered by "riddles and wordplay" about unreleased projects. Apple leaks, vaguely referred to as "dreams," have been popularized in recent years by leakers like "L0vetodream," providing some insiders with a fun mechanism to hint at Apple's future plans without giving too much away. Furthermore, Kang argued that he hadn't misled consumers, saying he was still within his rights to express his feelings about Apple's smartphone experience, noting that the company should stay off his 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 crackdown on leakers isn't the end of the story, however. Interestingly, the company has already made internal changes to its development process to prevent software leaks. We remember the iOS 14 leak wave. Back then, the entire operating system was leaked because an iPhone 11 Pro model with an internal version of iOS 14 was circulating. Read the report:This is how iOS 14 came into the wildThis wasn't the case with iOS 15. Why? Within the internal files of iOS 15 (Beta 1), every 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 release only certain features and changes to specific engineers and designers, thus reducing the number of Apple employees who knew the details of the changes in iOS 15. (Image: Apple)
