Steve Jobs Nearly Leaked The Original iPhone To A FedEx Employee

Steve Jobs never had much tolerance for employees who leaked the company's plans, but on one occasion, it was actually Jobs who came close to blowing the lid off a product, according to a former employee we spoke with.

Shortly before Jobs and Apple unveiled the original iPhone at MacWorld in 2007, a group of engineers from the iPhone team went to Jobs' home to debug a problem with the phone's WiFi.
At one point while the team was working, a FedEx employee buzzed outside the house to deliver a package to Jobs.

"Steve goes out to meet him because he has to sign for this package, but he's got the iPhone in one of his hands," said a former Apple employee was with the iPhone team at the time. "Steve just walks out casually, [hides] the phone behind his back, signs the package, and the FedEx dude marches off."
The idea that Jobs would walk outside carrying an iPhone in plain sight shocked this employee, given how much effort Apple put into keeping the product secret at all costs.

When we got there, Steve was sitting in his car in the driveway rocking out to some really loud music. The car was off, he was just listening. When we he saw us, he turned off the music, popped out of the car, and said, "Hey guys!" We went into his house and started debugging the problem. Then all of the sudden, this crazy ass medieval buzzer starts going off and startles us, and even startled Steve. He quickly figured out it was coming from the pedestrian gate on the other side of his house.

Up walks the happiest FedEx guy you have ever seen, coming up to the door. It's not Steve's normal guy, which is why he was surprised. So Steve goes out to meet him because he has to sign for this package, but he's got the iPhone in one of his hands. Steve just walks out casually, drops the phone behind his back, signs the package, and the FedEx dude marches off.

Now you have to understand, when we carried the phones to his house, we carried them in these Pelican lock boxes. These phones were never to leave Apple's campus, and Steve just casually throws it behind his back. That was the first time I saw someone casually come close to seeing the iPhone before it was announced, and he didn't even know it. If the FedEx guy had just tilted his head, he would have seen it.


Now you have to understand, when we carried the phones to his house, we carried them in these Pelican lock boxes. These phones were never to leave Apple's campus, and Steve just casually throws it behind his back. That was the first time I saw someone casually come close to seeing the iPhone before it was announced, and he didn't even know it. If the FedEx guy had just tilted his head, he would have seen it.