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Apple engineer fired after sharing his iPhone X with the world

Published Oct 30th, 2017 7:45AM EDT
iPhone X Hands-on
Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock

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Remember the last week’s iPhone X hands-on video that was recorded on Apple’s campus? Well, it turns out that Apple really didn’t like that stunt, as that iPhone belonged to an iPhone X engineer. The video was quickly pulled from YouTube, and the father of the teenager who uploaded was fired.

It doesn’t matter that the iPhone X was already unveiled when that video was shared and that it all happened just a few days before preorders started. For Apple, that is. The engineer shouldn’t have allowed his daughter to record a video of the phone like that.

Brooke Amelia Peterson confirmed in a video update that her father no longer works at Apple because he broke the rules:

One could argue that what Peterson did isn’t such a big deal. But non-disclosure agreements are still enforceable. And Apple is exactly the kind of company that would not tolerate such actions from its employees.

Per The Verge, the video, which Peterson quickly removed from YouTube when Apple asked her to, contained sensitive information. A Notes app showing codenames of unreleased Apple products was shown in that video.

From the sounds of it, the engineer is quite a father figure, but rules are rules, and Apple can’t but fire him. He apparently worked at Apple for four years, on iPhone RF and wireless circuit design, and he’ll hopefully be able to continue his career somewhere else.

The moral of the story is pretty clear, children and parents, do not record footage of devices protected by complex NDAs to share it with the world unless you’re willing to deal with the consequences.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.