dailynewsnblog
By Munsif Vengattil, Aditya Kalra and Stephen Nellis
NEW DELHI/SAN FRANCISCO, June 29 (Reuters) – Sensitive lists of components and suppliers, and photos of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 18 Pro models are part of files posted on the dark web by the ransomware group that stole data from the U.S. firm’s Indian supplier Tata Electronics, according to documents and a source.
The exposure threatens the carefully negotiated business of building the iPhone, which Apple assembles from a thicket of suppliers worldwide. It could also upset Apple and its relationship with Tata given most of the supplier arrangements are fiercely protected by Apple, and could also hand rivals, counterfeiters and its own vendors a view of who makes what.
Tata, which both supplies parts and assembles iPhones as a contract manufacturer, is emerging as one of Apple’s most important manufacturing partners outside China, an expansion that is a cornerstone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to make India an electronics manufacturing powerhouse.
Apple is reportedly on track to release its iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max in September. The leak comes at a difficult time for Apple, which last week raised iPad and MacBook prices due to soaring memory and storage chip costs, with analysts expecting Apple to increase iPhone prices in the coming months.
Reuters has previously reported the Tata Electronics leak of more than 200,000 files on the dark web by World Leaks had files with purported component design papers of older iPhones and some parts of Tesla – both Tata clients. They also included documents of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Qualcomm, both of which make parts used in iPhones.
New documents reviewed by Reuters show there are at least six files that map many components in the iPhone 18 Pro models to the specific company that supplies them. These include details of chips on its main circuit board and parts of the battery and cameras.
Apple considers this detail sensitive and is concerned about the documents being shared on the dark web as they relate to unreleased models, according to the person familiar with the matter. The data maps suppliers to iPhone parts, which Apple does not disclose in its public database of suppliers, the person added.
In all, the documents detail hundreds of parts to be on the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro models.
The records also show where Apple draws a part from several suppliers and where it relies on just a few, laying bare both its bargaining leverage and its vulnerabilities.
