Tech Leaks: How and Why?
Every now and then we tech enthusiasts come across these tech websites, YouTube channels and Twitter accounts covering “leaks and rumours” pertaining to various pieces of technology. Tech companies these days are barely able to keep anything under wraps. Ranging from the upcoming iPhones and Pixel phones, to code found in in-game files of games like Fortnite, there are leaks all over the internet!
Thanks to Analysts and content creators like Jon Prosser, 9to5Mac and EverythingApplePro, we know almost everything about upcoming tech launches. At this point, I personally watch Keynotes only because of the amazing way in which tech giants like Apple reveal and talk about their latest products (which we already know everything about).
It may seem odd but these leaks are essential to the tech community. Many people have made careers by solely leaking tech and presenting it to the public. Leaks are also important to tech companies in certain scenarios when it comes to popularity (more on this later).
In this article, I’m going to be covering how and why we see all these tech leaks. I’ll categorise these leaks into three distinct categories: Accidental, Unavoidable and Intended.
Accidental Leaks
[“Accidental” with respect to the company whose products are leaked]
There are instances when employees accidentally misplace prototypes or even production ready models of gadgets in public places. The most well known example of this scenario is when in 2011, an Apple employee misplaced a prototype of an iPhone 4 in a bar, leaking the design of the phone completely.
However, most often these are leaks provided by employees of the respective companies who act as sources (their identities remaining anonymous). They usually provide information to content creators in exchange for varying sums of money. In a recent interview between Jon Rettinger and Jon Prosser (linked here), Prosser revealed that the sources are not necessarily employees that hold some sort of grudge against their companies, but employees that are eagerly looking forward to certain releases and leak information as a response to the critics who claim that “companies no longer innovate as much as they used to”, etc.
I’m going to place Supply Chain Leaks in this category as well. There have been cases where large demands for a certain component in a manufacturing plant leads to speculation about the internals (specifications) of an upcoming device.
Also, sometimes workers at the industry tend to take pictures that tend to surface on the internet.
Case makers also have been known to accidentally update their databases for the upcoming products well before the launches, leaking the potential name of the device and its dimensions.
Broken Embargoes, although rare, also contribute to the leaks before a company takes any action to take the leak down.
Unavoidable Leaks
I call these leaks unavoidable as they are instances wherein information (pertaining to some features or future device compatibility logs) is encrypted and embedded in the code for an over-the-air update.
Leakers are able to decrypt blocks of code that are available to the masses as part of software updates and often tend to find hints at upcoming features/changes.
9to5Mac, for instance, has discovered glyphs for a rumoured pair of Apple Over-Ear Headphones (likely to be announced at Apple’s annual September Keynote) through this method. Many twitter accounts like FortTory and Hypex also decrypt files after every Fortnite update, giving them access to unreleased skins and weapon stats.
Intended Leaks
Here’s the thing, all press is good press!
As long as people keep talking about a product that isn’t even in the market at that moment, it creates a hype around that product. You could call it “free publicity” in a way. It dominates the headlines, generates the interest of people and creates potential buyers months before the product is even released — and it works.
I have personally told my relatives to hold off till September/October of this year because all the leaks for the upcoming iPhone 12 paint the picture of a much more promising phone than any other in the market right now.
It was also implied that some companies tend to leak various prototypes for their upcoming products solely to see what the public thinks of them. With the reactions of millions of people, they then decide which prototype will end up being more beneficial in terms of sales.
Companies have also been known to leak their own products in order to somewhat sabotage their rivals. Here’s an example —
In June of 2019, Google themselves leaked the Pixel 4
At the time of this tweet, the 3 camera array of the iPhone 11 had already been leaked. Analysts believe that Google did so to lead people to believe that Apple copied them (at the time of the iPhone 11 launch later that year) since the image was tweeted in June and the iPhone was to be released in September.
The Takeaway
Leaks these days are really getting out of hand but at the same time, we must appreciate companies like Sony that did not let the PS5 leak anywhere at all. Even Tesla for that matter. One of the reasons for the success of the Cybertruck reveal was the fact that no one had even the slightest clue about what type of car was going to roll onto the stage.
The feeling of being blown away when a product is revealed after being anticipated for a year is truly amazing and hopefully, the tech giants find a way to keep up the hype and keep leaks under control at the same time!
Abhimanyu Verma
