As Apple gears up to unveil its highly anticipated newest iPhone model this week, it appears a disgruntled employee has beat the tech giant to the punch by leaking the device’s new name and features.
The iPhone 8 is the most important phone created by Apple to date and is set to be revealed during an event at the company’s new headquarters in California on Tuesday.
But much of what was supposed to be a surprise from the company about the 10th anniversary of the first Apple smartphone has seemingly made it online due to a leak from a ‘disgruntled employee’ at the company, according to the BBC.
Prominent Apple blogger John Grubber said that he is ‘nearly certain’ the leak was intentional.
‘Someone within Apple leaked the list of URLs to 9to5Mac and MacRumors,’ Grubber, a blogger known for his coverage of the company, wrote in a post on his blog.
As Apple gears up to unveil its highly anticipated newest iPhone model this week, it appears a ‘disgruntled employee’ has beat the tech giant to the punch by leaking the device’s new name and features. Pictured above center is what the new phone reportedly will look like
The iPhone 8 is the most important phone created by Apple to date and is set to be revealed during an event at the company’s new headquarters in California on Tuesday. Pictured above left is what the new phone reportedly looks like
Prominent Apple blogger John Grubber told the BBC that he is ‘nearly certain’ the leak was intentional. He said: ‘Whoever did this is the least popular person in Cupertino. More surprises were spoiled by this leak than any leak in Apple history.’
‘I’m nearly certain this wasn’t a mistake, but rather a deliberate malicious act by a rogue Apple employee.
‘Whoever did this is the least popular person in Cupertino.
‘More surprises were spoiled by this leak than any leak in Apple history.’
The BBC also independently confirmed that an anonymous source provided the links to ‘iOS 11’s gold master (GM) code that downloaded the software from Apple’s own computer servers.’
Included in the leak was detailed design information, a look at the upgraded camera and the new radical unlocking system along with tons of other information.
‘As best I’ve been able to ascertain, these builds were available to download by anyone, but they were obscured by long, unguessable URLs [web addresses],’ Gruber added.
On Friday, what’s believed to be the finalized version of iOS 11 was leaked, detailing several features of the phone and a look at the latest edition of the Apple Watch.
Plus, the new software also reportedly includes new ‘Animoji’, which is allegedly animated emojis.
Developer Steve Troughton-Smith released new information related the official names of the devices that will be announced on Tuesday.
Apple is set to launch the new phone and software on Tuesday at their new headquarters in Cupertino, California (above)
According to Troughton-Smith, Apple will call the smartphones the iPhone8 and iPhone 8 Plus for the two LCD devices.
Then, iPhone X is the name for the OLED model.
Those names will reportedly replace the iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus and iPhone 8 monikers that had been attached to each respective model for the past few months.
On Thursday it was claimed that the new phone was ‘plagued by production glitches early in the manufacturing process’ that could lead to major shortages when it goes on sale.
The claims, made by The Wall Street Journal, say the delays led to a setback of a month in the start of manufacturing.
It blames problems with the new OLED screen in the technology, and Apple’s attempt to put a fingerprint sensor under the screen – which were eventually abandoned.
Apple’s tenth anniversary iPhone will be called the iPhone X according to several sources including Dutch tech site iCulture. Pictured is a mock up of the case posted on Twitter by Senior Editor of The iPhone Insider Aaron Mason
New pictures revealing what Apple’s next iPhone could look like have been posted to Twitter by a usually trusted source earlier this week
‘If shortfalls of the new phone extend beyond the initial sales period, which is expected to begin September 22, they could weaken analysts’ and investors’ projections for sales in the crucial holiday period,’ the Journal says.
It says Apple was forced to abandon its initial plan to embed an ‘invisible’ fingerprint scanner under the screen.
Instead, users will use a passcode or a new facial recognition system, it is believed.
Earlier this week a video emerged on Reddit that claims to show the device in operation.
It comes after months of rumours about Apple’s next smartphone, ranging from an all-screen display to a 3D facial recognition sensor.
The short clip appears to confirm several rumors, including a near-edgeless display and virtual home button.
Rumous suggest that there will be a choice of four colours for the next iPhone. A photo of what the device could look like was revealed by a respected Apple leaker, who says that a source inside the company tipped him off
The video of the alleged device was posted on Reddit earlier this week by a user called horryshiet, along with the caption ‘Alleged working iPhone 8.’
It shows small bezels and a cutout space at the top that will feature the front-facing camera and speaker.
Techradar notes the cutout at the top of the display doesn’t look to be symmetrical suggesting it may be a fake
Several people in the Reddit thread also questioned the video.
Randolm replied: ‘I don’t know, I just don’t trust a video that is…1. Filmed in the dark…2. Where you can’t see anything but the screen. Half of the screen shots are blurred… if you’re ‘leaking’ it why blur.’
And DreadnaughtHamster suggested the clip could be CGI, commenting: ‘Blurring a CG composite makes it easier to hide mistakes.
‘That’s why so many large wide shot battle scenes in movies have all this CG dust everywhere. Blurring does something similar.’
Apple finally confirmed that the new iPhone will be revealed at the new Steve Jobs theatre inside the ‘Spaceship’ HQ on September 12 – at which point the various rumors that have been swirling will finally be confirmed or put to rest.