Marcus Mendes, writing for 9to5Mac:

If you follow the rumor mill, you probably remember how Joe Prosser had been leaking iOS 26 (or rather, iOS 19, at the time) since January. First, he leaked a reconstruction of the Camera app, then he published a couple of videos that showed reconstructed glimpses of what actually became the Liquid Glass overhaul.

And while some details differed from what Apple ultimately announced, likely because the material he had access to was still a work in progress, the leaks were directionally accurate. Now, Apple has revealed how he got this information, and what it wants the courts to do about it.

”According to Mr. Ramacciotti’s message, while staying at Mr. Lipnik’s home, Mr. Ramacciotti used location tracking to determine when Mr. Lipnik would be gone for an extended period, acquired his passcode, and broke into his Development iPhone, which Mr. Lipnik had failed to properly secure according to Apple’s policies. As he detailed in the audio message, Mr. Ramacciotti made a video call to Mr. Prosser and “showed iOS” on the Development iPhone. He demonstrated several features and applications, disclosing details of the unreleased iOS 19 operating system.

According to Mr. Ramacciotti, Mr. Prosser proposed the scheme and promised to ”find out a way for [Mr. Ramacciotti] to get payment” if Mr. Ramacciotti would provide access to Mr. Lipnik’s Development iPhone so Mr. Prosser could steal and profit from Apple’s confidential information. Mr. Ramacciotti acknowledged that Mr. Prosser recorded the video call with screen capture tools. Mr. Prosser took videos of the trade secrets on the Development iPhone, kept them on his own device, and disseminated those recordings to others. He shared the recordings with at least one person who reported back to Mr. Lipnik that he recognized Mr. Lipnik’s apartment in the recording. Ultimately, Mr. Prosser profited off Apple’s trade secrets by, at least, sharing them in multiple videos on his business’s YouTube channel, from which he generates ad revenue.”

Obviously this is only an accusation for right now, but this scenario honestly makes more sense to me than a core team member choosing to leak the alpha build.

Jon Prosser responded on X:

For the record: This is not how the situation played out on my end. Luckily have receipts for that.

I did not “plot” to access anyone’s phone. I did not have any passwords. I was unaware of how the information was obtained.

Looking forward to speaking with Apple on this.