Vice reports that Apple sent a cease-and-desist letter to a leaker in China as part its ongoing efforts to stop leaks of unreleased product information.Fangda Partners in China sent a warning to a Chinese citizen who shared photos of stolen Apple prototypes via social media. It was sent on June 18, 2021. The letter contained the following excerpt:You have divulged without authorization large amounts of information about Apple's unreleased or rumored products. This has been a deliberate infringement of Apple's trade secrets. Apple has obtained evidence from you regarding your unauthorised disclosure of Apple's unreleased or rumored products. Intentional infringement can be defined as publishing unpublished information on Apple's new products via social media platforms. This includes the design and performance.The letter asked the seller to cease advertising and obtaining leaked Apple devices. It also requested information on anyone who had provided leaked devices to them. Leaker was also asked to sign a document agreeing that he would comply with the requests within fourteen days after receiving the letter. The identity of the Chinese citizen who leaked the prototype devices is unknown.Vice previously investigated the gray market and found that Chinese Apple or Foxconn employees sneak unreleased hardware from factories. This allows resellers to purchase devices to sell to collectors. Some of these collectors post images to social media.The original Twitter account of Mr. White, a leaker, with the handle @laobaiTD was deleted in June 11. Although there is now a new Mr. White account, it posted images of Apple prototypes. However, the original @laobaiTD was responsible.Mr. White released images of the iPhone 12 Pro's back glass, an iPhone 12 Mini display unit, the A14 chips, and the iPad mini 5's chassis. He also leaked images of unreleased products, such as a black ceramic Apple Watch Series 5, a Jet Black iPhone X and an iPod Touch 5th-generation with an alternative design.Apple's letter matches others sent to "Kang," "CConceptCreator," a reliable leaker who created Jon Prosser’s precise renders of AirPods Max, before they were released. Vice was also informed by another leaker, "Jin Store," who posted images of exact molds of the iPhone 12 line-up. He claimed that Apple had not sent him a letter.Although it appears that most of these letters were sent over a month ago it is becoming increasingly apparent that Apple made a strong and extensive attempt to collect information from leakers from outside the United States.
