Those who follow rumors around consumer electronics giant Apple (AAPL) are likely familiar with the name Jon Prosser. Prosser is a “…well-known leaker,” reports note, but that status as a leaker may have caught up with him. Apple is suing Prosser over the “…alleged theft of trade secrets…” connected to iOS 26, though Prosser protests his innocence. The move gave Apple a bit of a boost, and shares ticked up fractionally in Friday afternoon’s trading.
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Reports note that Apple accuses Prosser of turning to Michael Ramacciotti, and getting Ramacciotti to access a third person’s—an Apple employee named Ethan Lipnik who happened to be Ramacciotti’s friend—development iPhone. Prosser then promised Ramacciotti “…money or a future job opportunity…” to get into that phone and deliver information about the future of iOS.
Ramacciotti apparently went for it, the reports note, as he is alleged to have then used “location tracking” systems to learn when Lipnik would be away from home, and used Lipnik’s iPhone passcode to access the device and gain the information. Ramacciotti then allegedly showed Prosser the software via a video call, reports noted. Prosser, for his part, insists that Apple’s assertions are “…not how the situation played out on my end.”
The Foldable iPhone, From Samsung?
While this issue plays out, Apple is also in the midst of preparing to release its new foldable iPhone, which is set to come out in 2026. Reports note that Apple will turn to Samsung’s (SSNLF) “crease-free display solution,” rather than bringing out its own design instead.
Apple actually has patents for foldable displays. One of the oldest goes back to 2014, reports note. But Apple will instead draw on Samsung’s technology, mostly due to issues of creasing in the display. Samsung’s crease-free display is the result of several years of trial and error, reports suggest, and it being ready to go gives Apple a solution that is ready now instead of potentially having to suffer its own growing pains.
Is Apple a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on AAPL stock based on 14 Buys, 10 Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 6.37% loss in its share price over the past year, the average AAPL price target of $228.02 per share implies 8.1% upside potential.
