Siri leaked the Apple “Spring Loaded” event … but was it an accident?

The professional Apple leaker class—those who stake their reputation on guessing Apple event dates and product details before they are officially announced—may have just been replaced by technology.

A springtime Apple event, to showcase new iPads and possibly other products, has been the subject of rampant speculation. Apple leakers found themselves stymied as expected dates sailed by in March and early April.

One prominent leaker, Jon Prosser, even shaved his eyebrows after guaranteeing Apple would hold a spring event on March 23. 

Jon keeps his promises. 

Some assumed no event was coming—a repeat of what occurred in spring of 2020, when a press release announced updated iPads.

But on Tuesday morning, tweets began flying about Siri’s response to the question, “When is the next Apple event?”

At first glance, it seems Siri couldn’t keep a secret. It’s hard for a $2.3 trillion dollar company to keep everything quiet.

But did Apple really make a technical error with Siri? Or was it simply a savvy comms move?

Siri’s reveal blazed across Twitter and Apple news blogs. People felt like they’d scooped Apple, a Twitter army of byte-chasing Bob Woodwards. And no news travels faster than news not intended to travel at all. 

Apple’s official announcement for a “Spring Loaded” themed-event came at 12 noon eastern, driving another news cycle. Apple got a two-for-one deal on its event announcement at a time when it’s trying to shift focus away from Epic Games, Inc.’s claims of antitrust activity in advance of its May court showdown with Apple.

We’ll never know if Siri slipped up, or if Apple let Siri trump the leakers. But Siri’s reveal gave Apple an additional booster shot of positive online chatter. Whether a happy accident or smart communications tactic, Siri's side-hustle as an “Apple leaker” was a big win for the company.