What just happened? Jon Prosser, the popular veteran leaker, is being sued by Apple over claims that he conspired to break into an employee’s development iPhone to steal trade secrets. The suit relates to YouTube videos Prosser posted early this year that revealed details of iOS 26.

The videos Prosser posted to his Front Page Tech and Genius Bar Podcast YouTube channels at the start of the year showed off leaked features in the next version of iOS, which then was expected to be called iOS 19 – before Apple changed the nomenclature to reflect the year of release.

Among the reveals were a redesigned camera and Messages app, while “the biggest iOS leak ever” published in April gave us a first look at Apple’s new Liquid Glass design language.

According to the filing, Apple alleges that Prosser asked another man, Michael Ramacciotti, to secretly access a development iPhone in the possession of Apple employee Ethan Lipnik, Ramacciotti’s friend. Apple claims that Prosser offered Ramacciotti “money or a future job opportunity” in exchange for access to the device.

Ramacciotti allegedly discovered Lipnik’s iPhone passcode and used location tracking to determine when he’d be away from home for an extended period so it could be accessed without his knowledge.

Lipnik said in the suit that Ramacciotti “often spent time at his home, sometimes staying for the weekend, and observing his patterns and security protocols for his devices.”

Apple says Ramacciotti accessed the iPhone and made a FaceTime call to Prosser, showing off an iOS 26 development build running on Lipnik’s handset. Prosser is said to have recorded the call with screen capture tools, shared the videos with others, and used them to create the mock-ups of iOS 26 shown in his videos. Prosser has said that Apple uses identifiers within in-development versions of its software to help it identify leakers, and recreating the renders is intended to protect those people.

Apple says it found out the details of what happened via an anonymous email from someone who claimed to have seen Prosser’s recording of the call and recognized Lipnik’s apartment. The company also says it has a voice note Ramacciotti sent to Lipnik apologizing for his actions and blaming Prosser for the whole thing. Lipnik provided the recording to Apple, but he was still fired for failing to properly follow its policies around securing unreleased software.

Apple added that it does not know how many more of its trade secrets are in the possession of Prosser and Ramacciotti, and it is requesting an injunction against further disclosures. It is also seeking damages over the misappropriation of the secrets and requesting a jury trial.

For the record: I certainly did not “plot” to access anyone’s phone and was unaware of the situation playing out.

– jon prosser (@jon_prosser) July 18, 2025

Prosser has responded to the lawsuit on X. He claims to be looking forward to speaking to Apple, did not “plot” to access anyone’s phone, and was unaware of the situation.