How does Apple keep secrets so well?
Surely it would be so simple to let something slip about, say, the iPhone 5... How do they keep secrets so well? Process? Culture?
Also see Why does Apple need to be so secretive?
Also see Why does Apple need to be so secretive?
30 Answers
Mark Wang,
Updated 161w ago · Upvoted by Timothy McSwain, Apple Developer and Beta Tester and Joey Carmello, Worked at Apple from May 2011 to Sept 2013
On the software side, apparently they use API names that are disguised.
For example, still image stabilization was one of the new features of the iPhone 5S camera announced today. And yet, iOS 7 beta has been out for a while. They would have had to have development support for that feature somehow in the OS that thousands of other developers also need to get their hands on.
The answer lies in cleverly hidden names. For instance, in iOS 7 betas released before the iPhone 5S announcement, there was this API:
And today, it's been changed to:
[1] iOS7-Runtime-Headers
For example, still image stabilization was one of the new features of the iPhone 5S camera announced today. And yet, iOS 7 beta has been out for a while. They would have had to have development support for that feature somehow in the OS that thousands of other developers also need to get their hands on.
The answer lies in cleverly hidden names. For instance, in iOS 7 betas released before the iPhone 5S announcement, there was this API:
- (BOOL)isYoMamaWearsCombatBootsActive;And today, it's been changed to:
- (BOOL)isStillImageStabilizationActive;[1] iOS7-Runtime-Headers
Robert Scoble,
Written 227w ago · Upvoted by Michael Vogel, been using Macs for 22 years, 12 years experience working for and with Apple
My brother in law used to work there. But David is right, this has always been part of the culture. Back in 1977 when Apple was a one-building startup they had a sign in the lobby that said "loose lips sink ships."
Because they are a hardware company they knew that letting details out about new products would kill sales of existing products, so they built that into their culture early on.
But my brother-in-law and many others who worked at, or still work at, Apple tell me they aren't allowed to tell even their coworkers about what they are working on. Everything is on a need to know basis.
This extends even into meetings. If you are in a meeting and you aren't on the disclosure list for something you'll be asked to leave. Generally people don't bring up stuff in meetings they aren't allowed to discuss with the group.
In labs, every project is kept under black cloths, just in case someone gets into a section they weren't supposed to be in. Plus the labs are all sectioned off and you have to sign into your part of the lab (and, of course, key cards only work if you are supposed to have access to that lab).
There's a whole book on the topic, by the way, written by Adam Lashinsky, titled Inside Apple. How America's Most Admired and Secretive Company Really Works (http://www.amazon.ca/Ins
Unfortunately for Apple, some of their suppliers leak details about parts for future products—which is where some of the current press reports of the iPhone 5 are coming from. Apple CEO Tim Cook, on stage at the AllThingsD conference, vowed to focus effort on closing down these leakers too.
Because they are a hardware company they knew that letting details out about new products would kill sales of existing products, so they built that into their culture early on.
But my brother-in-law and many others who worked at, or still work at, Apple tell me they aren't allowed to tell even their coworkers about what they are working on. Everything is on a need to know basis.
This extends even into meetings. If you are in a meeting and you aren't on the disclosure list for something you'll be asked to leave. Generally people don't bring up stuff in meetings they aren't allowed to discuss with the group.
In labs, every project is kept under black cloths, just in case someone gets into a section they weren't supposed to be in. Plus the labs are all sectioned off and you have to sign into your part of the lab (and, of course, key cards only work if you are supposed to have access to that lab).
There's a whole book on the topic, by the way, written by Adam Lashinsky, titled Inside Apple. How America's Most Admired and Secretive Company Really Works (http://www.amazon.ca/Ins
Unfortunately for Apple, some of their suppliers leak details about parts for future products—which is where some of the current press reports of the iPhone 5 are coming from. Apple CEO Tim Cook, on stage at the AllThingsD conference, vowed to focus effort on closing down these leakers too.
Great comparison from Jamie. Secrecy isn't exclusive to Apple.
It's third parties that will always leak. I was editing MacUser (UK) in 1998 when rumours surfaced that Apple was working on a completely new kind of Mac. By a series of flukes, we became the first magazine to print what turned out to be a pretty accurate description of the machine a couple of months ahead of its launch as the iMac. We got the details from someone who worked at a third party site where Apple had seeded a test unit.
Probably safe by now to mention what the site was. It was the Pentagon. Compared to the real secrets they were keeping, when it came to some plastic PC they'd been asked not to talk about, I suspect nobody gave a shit.
It's third parties that will always leak. I was editing MacUser (UK) in 1998 when rumours surfaced that Apple was working on a completely new kind of Mac. By a series of flukes, we became the first magazine to print what turned out to be a pretty accurate description of the machine a couple of months ahead of its launch as the iMac. We got the details from someone who worked at a third party site where Apple had seeded a test unit.
Probably safe by now to mention what the site was. It was the Pentagon. Compared to the real secrets they were keeping, when it came to some plastic PC they'd been asked not to talk about, I suspect nobody gave a shit.
Interesting thread. In my 1984 book Hackers, I wrote about the early days of Apple computer and how Steve Wozniak's pure impulse of sharing --a key characteristic of hackers -- was stifled when the company he co-founded became a huge competitive enterprise. This wasn't limited to Apple, but other enterprises started by idealistic hardware hackers as well. As one of the Homebrew Computer Club stalwarts put it" "It was amazing to watch the anarchists put on a different shirt." Who knew, though, that years later we would see the company with the biggest tech IPO in history declare itself as the embodiment of "The Hacker Way"?
I think it comes down to two basic factors: Culture and Structure.
Like any organization that wants to keep to itself, Apple has fostered a culture where employees value keeping secrets, and fear the consequences of not doing so. Just as secret societies (fraternities, masons) and intelligence organizations portray to their members the upside of being in the know (the secret handshake, or ritual, whatever), and threaten grave consequences for breaking the organizational trust. In Apple's case, two recent books (cya) have accounts of the first day orientation, where the importance of keeping secrets secret is described in monetary terms (principally marketing $s), as are the consequences (guys in white shirts and black trousers packing your stuff into banker's boxes).
Even within the company the culture manifests itself in interesting ways. If you have friends in other groups, they will never ask you what you are working on. They know better, and the courtesy is reciprocated. So usually conversations are personal, or about outside elements, or someone registering complaints about how the shipping version of your product works now (wink wink). "Have you filed a RADAR for that?"
In terms of structure, by setting up 'cells' of functionality, it means only the integration points have the real 'big picture' view. Prototype iPads and iPhones that make it (however briefly) to eBay displayed a UI nothing like what shipped as iOS. They had a bootstrap OS that was enough to exercise the hardware for the hardware folks, or launch the app a team might be working on, but that's it. The WWDC announcements were a great example of this - leaks had gotten out about retina displays etc. or not retina displays - often times the leaks are contradictory because the suppliers, or the internal leakers, don't know the whole picture. It's not unlike the old story of the blind men trying to describe an elephant based on the part of the animal they can perceive.
In the end, it works because the employees want it to, for many of the reasons noted above by my friend (and former neighbor) Robert Bowdidge. They want to be part of the magic trick, and the most important part of magic is not revealing the secret.
Like any organization that wants to keep to itself, Apple has fostered a culture where employees value keeping secrets, and fear the consequences of not doing so. Just as secret societies (fraternities, masons) and intelligence organizations portray to their members the upside of being in the know (the secret handshake, or ritual, whatever), and threaten grave consequences for breaking the organizational trust. In Apple's case, two recent books (cya) have accounts of the first day orientation, where the importance of keeping secrets secret is described in monetary terms (principally marketing $s), as are the consequences (guys in white shirts and black trousers packing your stuff into banker's boxes).
Even within the company the culture manifests itself in interesting ways. If you have friends in other groups, they will never ask you what you are working on. They know better, and the courtesy is reciprocated. So usually conversations are personal, or about outside elements, or someone registering complaints about how the shipping version of your product works now (wink wink). "Have you filed a RADAR for that?"
In terms of structure, by setting up 'cells' of functionality, it means only the integration points have the real 'big picture' view. Prototype iPads and iPhones that make it (however briefly) to eBay displayed a UI nothing like what shipped as iOS. They had a bootstrap OS that was enough to exercise the hardware for the hardware folks, or launch the app a team might be working on, but that's it. The WWDC announcements were a great example of this - leaks had gotten out about retina displays etc. or not retina displays - often times the leaks are contradictory because the suppliers, or the internal leakers, don't know the whole picture. It's not unlike the old story of the blind men trying to describe an elephant based on the part of the animal they can perceive.
In the end, it works because the employees want it to, for many of the reasons noted above by my friend (and former neighbor) Robert Bowdidge. They want to be part of the magic trick, and the most important part of magic is not revealing the secret.
