Linked List: September 10, 2017

Sunday, 10 September 2017

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BBC Confirms iOS 11 GM URLs Were Leaked to 9to5Mac and MacRumors ★

Leo Kelion, reporting for the BBC:

“As best I’ve been able to ascertain, these builds were available to download by anyone, but they were obscured by long, unguessable URLs [web addresses],” wrote John Gruber, a blogger known for his coverage of Apple.

“Someone within Apple leaked the list of URLs to 9to5Mac and MacRumors. I’m nearly certain this wasn’t a mistake, but rather a deliberate malicious act by a rogue Apple employee.”

Neither Mr Gruber nor the two Apple-related news sites have disclosed their sources.

However, the BBC has 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.

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.

Again: these URLs were not discovered by guessing the URLs, or because they were published at obvious URLs prematurely. Someone who works at Apple emailed these URLs to 9to5Mac and MacRumors — possibly without even knowing just how much information could be gleaned from these builds compared to the last developer beta builds. Update: Let me clarify that sentence: whoever leaked these URLs knew it would be an incredibly damaging leak, if for no other reason than that they included the IPSW image for iPhone D22. The list of URLs they leaked included every device. The least amount of heretofore unknown information that was going to come out of this leak was massive, and whoever leaked it knew that. What I’m saying is they quite possibly didn’t even know just how many little things, things I won’t mention here for the sake of DF readers who are trying to stay spoiler-free for Tuesday’s event, were spoiled by this leak.

That person should be ashamed of themselves, and should be very worried when their phone next rings.

The Talk Show: ‘Under Rumored’ ★

Jim Dalrymple returns to the show for a preview of next week’s Apple event. We speculate on the naming of the new iPhones, facial recognition in lieu of Touch ID, third-generation Apple Watches, Apple TV, HomePod, and more. Recorded before last night’s massive leak of the iOS 11 GM, which renders some segments comically wrong — literally, the first thing out of my mouth was that there’s a lot we don’t know.