Michael Ramacciotti just threw a wrench into Apple's trade secrets case against leaker Jon Prosser. In a new court filing, Ramacciotti admits he showed Prosser unreleased iOS 26 features but denies any conspiracy - claiming the $650 payment came after the fact, not as part of a coordinated scheme to steal Apple's secrets.
The plot thickens in Apple's high-stakes legal battle against prominent leaker Jon Prosser. Michael Ramacciotti, the co-defendant accused of helping Prosser steal iOS 26 trade secrets, just filed his formal response - and it paints a very different picture than Apple's conspiracy allegations.
According to court documents filed this week, Ramacciotti admits he accessed a development iPhone belonging to former Apple employee Ethan Lipnik and conducted a FaceTime call with Prosser showing unreleased iOS features. But he flatly denies Apple's central claim of a "coordinated scheme."
The $650 payment at the heart of the case? Ramacciotti says it came "after the fact" - not as part of some pre-arranged deal to steal Apple's secrets. "Prosser offered Ramacciotti $650 at some point after the FaceTime call," his lawyers write, emphasizing that Ramacciotti "wasn't expecting any payment from Prosser" and "did not initiate communications with Prosser based on any promise."
This timeline distinction could prove crucial. Apple's original lawsuit painted a picture of calculated corporate espionage - alleging Ramacciotti used location tracking to determine when Lipnik would be away, then deliberately accessed the development device to profit from stolen information.
But Ramacciotti's version reads more like opportunistic oversharing than industrial espionage. He claims Lipnik had previously "sat down" with him weeks before the infamous call and "swiped through" new iOS features on the development iPhone. Ramacciotti says he "did not fully appreciate the sensitivity" of what he was seeing because of Lipnik's apparent willingness to show off the unreleased software.
The defendant also denies using location tracking to time his access to the device - contradicting another key allegation from Apple's complaint. And while he admits to the FaceTime call with Prosser, Ramacciotti claims he didn't know Prosser was recording the conversation.
Meanwhile, Prosser himself remains conspicuously absent from the legal proceedings. Despite telling The Verge last week that he's been in "active communication" with Apple about the lawsuit, court records tell a different story. Apple informed the court that Prosser "has not indicated" when he might formally respond to the complaint.
