Former Apple software engineer apologises for leak as lawsuit against him is dismissed

Apple

A former iOS engineer at Apple, has issued a public apology after a lawsuit against him was dismissed. The lawsuit, filed by Apple last year, alleged that Andrew Aude leaked confidential information about several Apple products and policies to journalists at The Wall Street Journal and The Information.

Aude, who spent nearly eight years at Apple, admitted to sharing sensitive internal information, including details about unreleased products like the Journal app and the Vision Pro headset. In his apology, Aude expressed deep regret for his actions, acknowledging that leaking the information was a "profound and expensive mistake."

In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Aude apologized to Apple and his ex-colleagues. “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 realise it at the time, but this turned out to be a profound and expensive mistake,” he said.

Aude further added, “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 apologise to my former colleagues who not only worked tirelessly on projects for Apple, but work hard to keep them secret. They deserved better.”

The terms of the settlement between Apple and Aude remain undisclosed. However, Aude's public apology suggests that it may have been a condition of the agreement.