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In January, YouTuber Jon Prosser began revealing early renderings of Apple’s iOS 26 on his channel, FrontPageTech. He first showcased a redesigned camera concept. Then, in March, he teased a bold “liquid glass” redesign in iOS 26. By April, he offered a more detailed preview of the new look. However, on Thursday, Apple filed a lawsuit in federal court in Northern California. The company accused Prosser and another individual, Michael Ramacciotti, of misappropriating trade secrets related to iOS 26.
Prosser has denied Apple’s claims in a post on X, disputing their version of the events.
Jon Prosser responded to the lawsuit in a post on X, denying Apple’s claims. Reacting to a MacRumors article, he wrote, “This is not how things went down on my end. For the record, I certainly did not ‘plot’ to access anyone’s phone and was unaware of the situation playing out.”
In the lawsuit, Apple requested unspecified damages and a court order to stop Prosser from sharing any additional unreleased trade secrets that may have been on the device.
According to the lawsuit, Apple received an anonymous tip on April 4. The tip linked the leaks to Ethan Lipnik, a software engineer at Apple between 2023 and 2025. This was months before Apple officially introduced iOS 26 at its WWDC event.
Apple claims that Prosser asked Ramacciotti to access Lipnik’s development phone. The suit states Ramacciotti, a friend of Lipnik, stayed at his house. While Lipnik was away, Ramacciotti allegedly accessed the device by obtaining its password.
“He then made a video call to Prosser, displaying unreleased iOS 26 features, Apple says.”
The lawsuit claims that Prosser screen-recorded the call. He then used the footage to create detailed renderings, which he later published on YouTube. Apple further alleges that Prosser shared the video with others. One viewer recognized Lipnik’s apartment in the background and reported it to Apple.
Apple takes great care to protect the secrecy of its unreleased products and features. These safeguards can only go so far to protect against bad actors determined to steal Apple’s trade secrets.
