Apple Engineer 'fired' Over Early IPhone X Leak

Image copyright YouTube

Apple has reportedly fired one of its engineers after his daughter posted a video of the iPhone X before the official launch.

The YouTube video was shot on the Apple campus in September when the young woman met her father for lunch.

The video was widely shared after being spotted by tech news sites and blogs that watch Apple.

She said her father was fired for breaking Apple's strict policy that bans filming on its campus.

Apple has not yet confirmed that the man has been fired nor responded to a request for comment.

No grudge

News of the firing emerged when Brooke Peterson posted a follow-up video explaining why the original, in which she was seen trying out the iPhone X, was no longer available.

Ms Peterson said Apple had asked for the "innocent" video to be taken down and said that its posting had led to her father being fired. Although Ms Peterson removed the video from her YouTube pages it has been widely copied online.

The video shows Ms Peterson trying out the iPhone X while eating lunch with her father. This demo also inadvertently revealed some Apple employee only QR codes and a text file of codenames for unreleased Apple devices.

"At the end of the day when you work for Apple, it doesn't matter how good of a person you are, if you break a rule, they just have no tolerance," said Ms Peterson.

"Apple really did like my dad. And they let him go. Because he broke a rule," she said. "It was an innocent mistake, and he fully apologises."

Mr Peterson is believed to have been employed at Apple for four years and worked on the iPhone's radio frequency and wireless technologies.

Ms Peterson added that the family bore Apple no grudge and that her father was going to be "OK".