Judge Orders Apple's New Hire to Stop Work - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Judge Orders Apple's New Hire to Stop Work

The drama continues for Apple's new employee Mark Papermaster who recently took a job at Apple to replace Tony Fadell. The transition has received more attention than usual due to a lawsuit filed by IBM.

Papermaster was said to have a non-compete agreement in place in which he agreed not to work at a competitor for a period of one year following his employment at IBM.

A new report reveals that a District Court judge has now ordered Papermaster to immediately stop work due to the possible violation of the agreement. Papermaster has argued that IBM and Apple are not competitors. Apple has said they will comply with the court's order but "are confident that Mark Papermaster will be able to ultimately join Apple when the dust settles".

Papermaster was hired at Apple to replace Fadell as senior vice president of Devices Hardware Engineering. Fortune provides a detailed timeline of the events of Papermaster's recruitment. Steve Jobs is said to have offered Papermaster an offer he couldn't refuse, a "once in a liftetime opportunity". Papermaster accepted the job offer despite a significant counteroffer from IBM.

Popular Stories

General Apps Reddit Feature

Reddit Starts Blocking Mobile Website, Pushing Users to App Instead

Monday May 11, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
Social network Reddit recently began blocking mobile visitors to its website while pushing them to download the official Reddit app, and it's fair to say that the move is not going down well with users. If you visit reddit.com on your iPhone today, you may see a new popup that can't be dismissed, asking you to "get the app to keep using Reddit." A Reddit spokesperson told Ars Technica...
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in September With These 10 New Features

Saturday May 9, 2026 6:03 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
MacBook Pro Low Angle Wide Lens

macOS 27: Two More Changes Leaked Ahead of WWDC Next Month

Sunday May 10, 2026 9:45 am PDT by
macOS 27 will have a "slight redesign" compared to macOS Tahoe, according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the design changes will help to improve the readability of macOS Tahoe's Liquid Glass interface:If you've used Tahoe, you're likely familiar with some of the quirks — particularly the transparency effects and shadows that...