Apple Employee Leaked iOS 11 GM Download Links to MacRumors, 9to5Mac: BBC

The last time we saw a leak of this proportion, was probably back when Gizmodo obtained the iPhone 4 before it launched, as the latter was lost by an employee in a bar, then sold to the tech publication by a stranger.

With the leak of iOS 11 GM to 9to5Mac and MacRumors, surprises from Tuesday’s iPhone special event have been spoiled, it seems, as details within the firmware have seemingly confirmed names such as ‘iPhone X’ with Face ID, new AirPods, Apple Watch with LTE, a 4K Apple TV, and the new 6-core A11Fusion CPU.

Daring Fireball’s John Gruber wrote yesterday the iOS 11 GM builds were leaked from within Apple, as these obscured, unguessable URLs were sent to MacRumors and 9to5Mac.

Now, the BBC has corroborated Gruber’s claims, reporting they “independently confirmed that an anonymous source provided the publications with links to iOS 11’s gold master (GM) code that downloaded the software from Apple’s own computer servers.”

In response to the BBC’s investigation, Gruber responded to say “I wish I could say more about how I know what I know, but it’s good to see the BBC confirm this. The BBC doesn’t say definitively that the leak was sent by an Apple employee, but I can state with nearly 100 percent certainty that it was. I also think there’s a good chance Apple is going to figure out who it was.”

You have to be pretty dense to think Apple would not be able to track down who leaked these URLs. Somebody is “going to get a hurt real bad,” as Russell Peters would say.

Despite the leak of iOS 11 GM, many are still highly anticipating Tuesday’s special event, set to kick off at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park.

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