Apple Leaker Issues Apology: 'Profound and Expensive Mistake'

Last year, we reported that Apple sued its former software engineer Andrew Aude for providing journalists with confidential information about the company's future plans, including details about the Journal app, Vision Pro headset, and more.

Apple Leak Feature
As reported by 9to5Mac, the Superior Court of Santa Clara County on Thursday dismissed the lawsuit after Apple and Aude reached an agreement to resolve this matter. The court document for the case's dismissal does not provide any specific details about the agreement, but Aude issued a public apology on the same day.

In a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Aude said leaking information was a "profound and expensive mistake."

Aude's full apology:

I spent nearly eight years as a software engineer at Apple. During that time, I was given access to sensitive internal Apple information, including what were then unreleased products and features. But instead of keeping this information secret, I made the mistake of sharing this information with journalists who covered the company. I did not realize it at the time, but this turned out to be a profound and expensive mistake. Hundreds of professional relationships I had spent years building were ruined. And my otherwise successful career as a software engineer was derailed, and it will likely be very difficult to rebuild it. Leaking was not worth it. I sincerely apologize to my former colleagues who not only worked tirelessly on projects for Apple, but work hard to keep them secret. They deserved better.

Aude joined Apple in 2016, to work on optimizing battery performance, and the company fired him in 2023 after learning of his wrongful disclosures. For more details about the situation, read our previous coverage of the lawsuit.

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Top Rated Comments

iObama Avatar
21 weeks ago
Sounds like Apple wrote this, handed it to him, and said "Say this and we'll drop it." lol
Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bonte Avatar
21 weeks ago

I suppose it's easier for Apple to go after the leakers than the people (e.g. Mark Gurman, Ming-Chi Kuo, etc) who write about the leaked info.
Well, writing about it isn't against the law, leaking contractually protected company secrets is.
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jgreg728 Avatar
21 weeks ago
Andrew Aude: “Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world. None may atone for my actions but me, and only in me shall their stain live on. I am thankful to have been caught, my fall cut short by those with wizened hands. All I can be is sorry, and that is all I am.”

Tim Cook: “I don’t think you meant it… Again.”
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tyrnnsrs Avatar
21 weeks ago
It would be great if he posted a follow up tweet, 'One more thing', and then dropped one final leak
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DocMultimedia Avatar
21 weeks ago
How dumb can people be? Don't you learn to not tell secrets in kindergarten?
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slatina Avatar
21 weeks ago
Imagine ruining your own career because of a worthless journal app that people forgot soon after its release
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)