Earlier this year, Apple sued leaker Jon Prosser alongside Michael Ramacciotti, alleging the two had a “coordinated scheme to break into an Apple development iPhone, steal Apple’s trade secrets, and profit from the theft.” However, in a new filing, Ramacciotti “denies that he planned or participated in any conspiracy or coordinated scheme” with Prosser” and that, to the best of his recollection, any payment he received from Prosser “was paid after the fact and was not agreed to in advance of the actions and communications.”
Apple’s lawsuit accused Ramacciotti of accessing the development iPhone of former Apple employee Ethan Lipnik after using location tracking to determine when Lipnik “would be gone for an extended period.” He then allegedly showed Prosser features of the yet-unreleased iOS 26 over a FaceTime call. But in his court filing, Ramacciotti “admits that he accessed Lipnik’s Apple Development iPhone and conducted a FaceTime call with Prosser, and Prosser asked Defendant to show certain iOS features,” though he “denies that he tracked Lipnik’s location.”
According to Ramaccioti’s filing, several weeks prior to that call, Lipnik had “sat down” with Ramacciotti and “swiped through” new iOS features on that iPhone. Ramacciotti “did not fully appreciate the sensitivity of the development version of iOS on the Development iPhone” because of Lipnik’s “willingness” to show the features to him.
The lawyers say that Prosser offered Ramacciotti $650 “at some point after the FaceTime call” and that Ramacciotti “did not initiate communications with Prosser based on any promise by Prosser that he would specifically pay” for the information. While Prosser did pay Ramacciotti the $650, Ramacciotti “wasn’t expecting any payment from Prosser.” Ramacciotti claims he didn’t know Prosser was taking a video of the call. He also “denies he remains in possession of any Apple trade secrets and denies having any additional recordings or other forms of Apple confidential information.”
Prosser and Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Prosser told The Verge last week that he has been in “active communication” with Apple over the lawsuit, but a few days later, the company said that Prosser “has not indicated” when he may respond to it. A clerk has entered a default against Prosser, meaning the case can move forward even though he hasn’t responded, and Apple intends to file for a default judgment against Prosser.
