Tim Cook says leakers ‘do not belong at Apple’ after iPhone revealed before release

(AFP via Getty Images)

Tim Cook has said that leakers “do not belong” at Apple, after the leak of the new iPhone and other internal discussions, according to a new report.

The Apple chief executive sent an email to Apple employees warning them not to make internal information public, according to The Verge. The message followed a meeting among staff that was leaked to the same publication.

Apple has in the past worked hard to crack down on leaks from within its company. Some of those appear to have been successful, with recent product launches being less extensively reported ahead of Apple’s official reveal, for instance.

But Mr Cook did note that many of the details of the new iPhone 13 and other products shown off at its recent event were revealed ahead of time, and said that Apple would look to find the people responsible.

“I’m writing today because I’ve heard from so many of you were were incredibly frustrated to see the contents of the meeting leak to reporters,” he said in the email, as reported by The Verge. :This comes after a product launch in which most of the details of our announcements were also leaked to the press.”

Mr Cook said that internal meetings of that kind only work if the team is able to trust that any information shared will stay within the company. And he said that Apple would be tracking down those people who shared information on both meetings and upcoming products.

“I want to reassure you that we are doing everything in our power to identify those who leaked,” he wrote. “As you know, we do not tolerate disclosures of confidential information, whether it’s product [intellectual property] or the details of a confidential meeting.

“We know that the leakers constitute a small number of people. We also know that people who leak confidential information do not belong here.”

Apple did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent.