Tata Electronics raided and leaked Apple’s unreleased iPhone 18 Pro supplier files and prototype photos

Dark web files leaked after a cyberattack on Tata Electronics made public Apple’s unreleased iPhone 18 Pro suppliers and sample pictures.

Due to a ransomware attack on Apple’s Indian supplier Tata Electronics, private supplier names, internal component documents, and photos of Apple’s unreleased iPhone 18 Pro models have been put on the dark web. The information is according to documents reviewed by a person familiar with the situation.

The leak shows private information about Apple’s closely guarded global supply chain. The revelations could make things more difficult between the company and Tata Electronics, which is one of its fastest-growing manufacturing partners outside of China.

Reuters says that the ransomware group World Leaks released the files. World Leaks has previously said that it stole more than 200,000 files from Tata Electronics. The newest papers show a lot of information about Apple’s suppliers for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models, which are set to be released in September.

The news arrives at a challenging moment for Apple, as the company recently increased the prices of iPads and MacBooks due to rising costs for memory and storage chips. Analysts also think that the price of an iPhone will go up in the following months.

Reuters looked at some newly leaked papers and found at least six files that connect different parts of the iPhone 18 Pro models to the companies that make them. The records list the companies that make the chips that go on the main circuit boards of the devices, as well as the battery parts and camera parts.

According to a knowledgeable source, Apple considers the information highly confidential due to its association with unreleased products.

“Apple thinks this is a private matter and is worried about the documents being shared on the dark web because they contain information about models that haven’t been released yet,” the source said.

“The data maps iPhone parts to suppliers, which Apple does not make public in its database of suppliers,” the person said.

The papers reportedly enumerate hundreds of components intended for the iPhone 18 Pro models. They also show where Apple gets parts from many different sellers and where it only relies on a few, which shows both its negotiating power and any possible weaknesses in its supply chain.

Reuters reported that it couldn’t directly verify the authenticity of the leaked files, and World Leaks was unavailable for immediate comment.

Reuters asked Apple and Tata Electronics for comments, but they didn’t come back.

The stolen material contains pictures that allegedly depict unreleased iPhone 18 Pro devices undergoing durability testing at a Tata factory.

Reuters says that several files had Apple “confidential” watermarks and secret code names for the iPhone 18 Pro generation.

A person who has access to the papers said that the pictures show iPhone 18 Pro models.

Reuters said the pictures, which are from early 2026, show gray smartphones in the shape of slabs that have the Apple brand and three cameras on the back. The person told Reuters that the devices were iPhone 18 Pros, but the news organization could not confirm the exact model number.

Earlier reports indicated that Apple and Tata Electronics are investigating the cyberattack and collaborating to develop long-term security plans.

As a reaction, Tata has limited access to sensitive systems within the company and hired a global consulting firm to look into the breach in more detail.

A report from earlier today indicated that the larger cache of more than 200,000 leaked files also had what looked like component design documents for older iPhone models, Tesla parts, and documents related to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Qualcomm, two major companies that make parts used in iPhones.

Last week, AppleInsider was the first news site to report the theft of papers related to the iPhone 18 Pro.

As part of its plan to become less dependent on China, Apple is continuing to increase production in India at the same time as the breach.

Apple’s most important manufacturing partner outside of China is Tata Electronics, which both supplies parts and puts together iPhones for Apple. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to make India a world hub for electronics manufacturing, and the company is playing a bigger part in that.

Research company Counterpoint says that India will make 26% of the world’s iPhones in 2026. This is a big jump from 2014, when they only made 6%.

For Apple and Tata, the event hurts the trust that has been building between them at a time when India’s role in Apple’s global manufacturing network is growing quickly.