Other found document at café — "green" iPhone coming? [Merged]

[ExperienceOverall]

Grabbed coffee coming home from Cupertino today and saw this folder left behind by someone. I’m nosy and peeked through — seems to be a branding presentation for an upcoming phone. There is a big emphasis on "going green."

It looks pretty Apple-like and the September date certainly lines up. I’m curious to hear your thoughts? Could they be preparing a “green” 15R?

I realize this is pretty risky to leak potential internal documents but compared to the other leaks on here I figure it might be vague enough to be okay 😅

I personally think that they should keep focusing on speed and efficiency more than just sustainability, as that’s not Apple’s main demographic of buyers. But let’s see where it goes right?

Grabbed coffee coming home from Cupertino today and saw this folder left behind by someone. I’m nosy and peeked through — seems to be a branding presentation for an upcoming phone. There is a big emphasis on "going green."

It looks pretty Apple-like and the September date certainly lines up. I’m curious to hear your thoughts? Could they be preparing a “green” 15R?

I realize this is pretty risky to leak potential internal documents but compared to the other leaks on here I figure it might be vague enough to be okay 😅

I personally think that they should keep focusing on speed and efficiency more than just sustainability, as that's not Apple's main demographic of buyers. But let's see where it goes right?

 

[RRC]

100% nothing to do with Apple.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

To me, this looks like a new or established brand trying to capitalize off the buzz Fairphone is seeing outside the U.S.

Since Fairphone isn’t selling their smartphones in the states yet, it would seem obvious that another company is looking to get ahead of Fairphone and take the entire lot of the “sustainable smartphone” market that’s largely(?) unexplored in the U.S?

Could also just be mock-ups by some students for a class on advertising/branding/marketing, or something similar.

That would certainly explain why all their ”beans” are spilled in a coffee shop like this.

I definitely won’t expect anything to come from this if there’s no actual prototype or photos of a prototype at hand.

People are so tech obsessed these days that some even just make stuff like this for fun, to imagine products how they would want to make them.

Only relation to Apple is how the mock-up is inspired by iPhone ads/presentations.

 

[mectojic]

Show me a single Apple ad in the last decade where they abbreviated a word using a single letter like "R" in place of "are." Go ahead - I'll wait.

It’s only an abbreviation if you read it that way as replacing “are”. It’s not, it’s R- If you treat it as a new marketing strategy entirely, then it’s not un-Apple at all. It’s just a bold approach.

Also, to clarify. My wife wasn’t saying this is definitely Apple- just that it’s definitely made by a marketing expert. It’s very clever copywriting, to say the least.
People who think this stuff is easy assume too much of themselves.

 

[mpavilion]

Everything about this looks fake, including/especially the handwritten “notes.”

 

[primarycolors]

To me, this looks like a new or established brand trying to capitalize off the buzz Fairphone is seeing outside the U.S.

Since Fairphone isn’t selling their smartphones in the states yet, it would seem obvious that another company is looking to get ahead of Fairphone and take the entire lot of the “sustainable smartphone” market that’s largely(?) unexplored in the U.S?

Could also just be mock-ups by some students for a class on advertising/branding/marketing, or something similar.

That would certainly explain why all their ”beans” are spilled in a coffee shop like this.

I definitely won’t expect anything to come from this if there’s no actual prototype or photos of a prototype at hand.

People are so tech obsessed these days that some even just make stuff like this for fun, to imagine products how they would want to make them.

Only relation to Apple is how the mock-up is inspired by iPhone ads/presentations.

I hadn’t heard of the Fairphone but it sounds like a great concept.

I guess we’ll find out by the end of the month whether it’s an actual product or not.

(There’s also the possibility it’s an actual product concept in early stages, and Sep 2023 is just a dummy date)

 

[noobinator]

I just don't see Apple employees printing out stuff like this. I work at a non techy company, and I can't remember the last time I printed something out, let alone stuff it into an envelope and then take it to a cafe to study it or something.

Seems like a project for a college class or something. I had to do this sort of thing in college (marketing major) where we created a new product, marketing plan, advertising campaign etc...

 

[mectojic]

I just don't see Apple employees printing out stuff like this. I work at a non techy company, and I can't remember the last time I printed something out, let alone stuff it into an envelope and then take it to a cafe to study it or something.

Seems like a project for a college class or something. I had to do this sort of thing in college (marketing major) where we created a new product, marketing plan, advertising campaign etc...

This wasn't Apple employees. They hire external companies to work on their marketing.

 

[JustAnExpat]

My opinion:

100% NOT Apple.
1. Why would they use printouts (in black and white no less!), at a cafe, and leave the documents alone. Apple has tight information security controls, a color printer would be used (or an iPad), and they would keep the documents with them.

2. It looks professional, it doesn't sound "Apple-y". Apple never replaced a word with a letter in a sentence, only in products (i.e. iPhone, eMac). There's a whole lot of letters being replaced with words in the draft.

3. "A better phone is coming". If "iPhone R" [for lack of a better term] is real, why would they tear down the iPhone Max models, which will be better than the current iPhone Max models?

I believe this is from another organization, and they decided to leave the documents behind just so someone can take pictures (assuming, of course, it wasn't the company themselves taking pictures of the document.. 🤔)

 

[noobinator]

This wasn't Apple employees. They hire external companies to work on their marketing.

This doesn't change my reply. I stand by my belief that they were students working on a project.

 

[0339327]

Assuming this is real:

1. I think it shows bad character to take something obviously private and make it public. Regardless of the legality, I am unimpressed with the OP.

2. This could easily be from a third-party advertising firm. I didn’t see any Apple specific branding on the documents and it looks like concept work by an ad firm.

3. Even if it is an internal Apple doc, there is nothing to suggest a green iPhone. It seems they may be planning on a new R iPhone that is build in a way of going green; maybe using recycled materials.

4. Of course Apple’s big anti-green in that they don’t allow for easy and inexpensive battery replacements and repairs which results in people trashing devices that could otherwise be usable.

 

[Frankenstein's Fat Foot]

please just let this thread die.

 

[Alex Cai]

I speculate this is another small new rising phone company like Nothing phone

 

[icanhazmac]

Assuming this is real:

1. I think it shows bad character to take something obviously private and make it public. Regardless of the legality, I am unimpressed with the OP.

This. ^^^

Chances are this material has nothing to do with Apple or Apple products yet the OP decided to post these documents on a public forum, potentially impacting someone's employment. Yes, people should be more careful with potentially confidential documents but we all make mistakes and we hope that someone doesn't plaster our mistake all over the intarwebz in hopes of having their "15 minutes of fame".

 

[firsttube]

This is interesting, haven’t seen anything like this in awhile. I get what some of yall are saying regarding typefaces/ legitimacy. But who knows, there’s always that one person that has an early version of something before some of that gets fixed, or the device they printed on was missing a typeface?

The possibilities are endless, but my interest is piqued after years and years of watching!

 

[AppleProductUser]

Looks like its from Samsung Mobile 🤣

It just might be man! It's a toss up for me.

 

[mectojic]

1. I think it shows bad character to take something obviously private and make it public. Regardless of the legality, I am unimpressed with the OP.

Um, this is Macrumors... isn't literally every rumour something that's meant to be private? It's not Apple going around, offering the rumours to journalists lol.

 

[mpavilion]

Um, this is Macrumors... isn't literally every rumour something that's meant to be private? It's not Apple going around, offering the rumours to journalists lol.

This has nothing to do with Apple, it's some random document that was (allegedly) left behind in public.

 

[impala237]

so interesting !! Yes, I remember the iphone 4 was leaked as well from a similar situation at a bar: https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/iphone-4-leaker-tells-all-on-reddit-ama/

So, it's definitley possible. i would love to see a more recyclable smartphone. if this is indeed apple trying to get more sustainable with its supply chain, business practices, or otherwise, I'm all for it.

If "R" does stand for recycleable, that'd be pretty smart as good publicity for the general public. can't wait to find out soon! It's september !!

 

[0339327]

Um, this is Macrumors... isn't literally every rumour something that's meant to be private? It's not Apple going around, offering the rumours to journalists lol.

I understand your point, and respectfully disagree.

When an employee goes off the reservation and provides information to a journalist, that employee is accepting the risk of being caught and fired.

When a journalist studies publicly available information from suppliers and extrapolates into a headline, or even investment advice, that is a rumor.

When an employee accidentally looses a test iPhone at a restaurant and someone else takes it and shares it with the world, that however, is considered theft.

In this case, there was nothing stolen per-se, however, it is morally questionable.

 

[icanhazmac]

I understand your point, and respectfully disagree.

When an employee goes off the reservation and provides information to a journalist, that employee is accepting the risk of being caught and fired.

When a journalist studies publicly available information from suppliers and extrapolates into a headline, or even investment advice, that is a rumor.

When an employee accidentally looses a test iPhone at a restaurant and someone else takes it and shares it with the world, that however, is considered theft.

In this case, there was nothing stolen per-se, however, it is morally questionable.

Agreed, there is a sizable difference, in my opinion, between @MacProFCP 's first point about an employee purposefully leaking (or not because they were betrayed by a "friend" they were talking to about Apple) and finding something that was mistakenly left behind by another human being.

I'm not sure I agree that going public with said found items would be theft but it would certainly be morally questionable to then make those items public. The employee who lost the item is an individual, that will potentially pay a steep price for their mistake because someone like the OP wanted their "15 minutes" on MR.

IMHO the OP should have searched those documents for something identifiable and attempted to return them. YMMV.

 

[0339327]

Agreed, there is a sizable difference, in my opinion, between @MacProFCP 's first point about an employee purposefully leaking (or not because they were betrayed by a "friend" they were talking to about Apple) and finding something that was mistakenly left behind by another human being.

I'm not sure I agree that going public with said found items would be theft but it would certainly be morally questionable to then make those items public. The employee who lost the item is an individual, that will potentially pay a steep price for their mistake because someone like the OP wanted their "15 minutes" on MR.

IMHO the OP should have searched those documents for something identifiable and attempted to return them. YMMV.

I referenced the iPhone 4 incident as theft, because in that case, something was taken by a person that it did not belong to.

In this case, as with many intellectual property situations, I agree that theft is too strong a word. However, publishing private information is certainly problematic.

 

[zachz]

Um, this is Macrumors... isn't literally every rumour something that's meant to be private? It's not Apple going around, offering the rumours to journalists lol.

Finding and posting likely private documents someone accidentally left behind at a coffee shop is much different than posting about what analysts investigate and post about, or what leakers post about.

If a lawyer leaves behind private case notes, sure that was their mistake, but that doesn’t mean someone should freely publish them for all to see and so the lawyer gets reprimanded. That also doesn’t really qualify as a rumour in the sense this site is about. If said lawyer, or someone with access to the information, decides to purposely leak information, then sure, post it on LawyerRumors

 

[mectojic]

If you guys think this stuff is morally questionable, I don't know why you're on Macrumors. Just because they have "journalists" doing "reporting", the source is still exactly the same – leakers who aren't meant to be sharing information, deciding to share it, often risking their employment and violating their contracts.
If you only want the "moral" form of media, then journalism probably isn't for you. Just wait for Apple's press releases.

If Macrumors was just speculation, let's face it, why would it need to exist? Anyone can speculate that an M3 chip is coming in the next 12 months. Whenever MR does do a post that has a vague speculation like that, everyone ridicules it.

Regarding theft: yes, the stealing of documents/prototypes is wrong, as stealing is wrong. However, the reporting of it, is that wrong?
In the case of that iPhone 4, I suppose it should've been returned. That doesn't make it illegal to report about though. We aren't bound to secrecy like the employees.

 

[zachz]

If you guys think this stuff is morally questionable, I don't know why you're on Macrumors. Just because they have "journalists" doing "reporting", the source is still exactly the same – leakers who aren't meant to be sharing information, deciding to share it, often risking their employment and violating their contracts.
If you only want the "moral" form of media, then journalism probably isn't for you. Just wait for Apple's press releases.

If Macrumors was just speculation, let's face it, why would it need to exist? Anyone can speculate that an M3 chip is coming in the next 12 months. Whenever MR does do a post that has a vague speculation like that, everyone ridicules it.

Regarding theft: yes, the stealing of documents/prototypes is wrong, as stealing is wrong. However, the reporting of it, is that wrong?
In the case of that iPhone 4, I suppose it should've been returned. That doesn't make it illegal to report about though. We aren't bound to secrecy like the employees.

Leakers generally leak from information they have access to and decide to leak it, with knowledge of the risks. That is not the same as finding someone’s likely private/confidential folder and posting it. This isn’t journalism. It’s also not investigative journalism or whistleblowing.

The issue is that, assuming the OP is true, it’s a random person who isn’t entitled to the folder taking advantage of someone’s mistake/forgetfulness and posting it online, unnecessarily risking the job of the person who left the folder