SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco police officers helped Apple Inc. investigators look for a missing iPhone prototype that was left in a city restaurant in July, the police chief said, the second time in two years the company has lost an unreleased smartphone.
Police Chief Greg Suhr told the San Francisco Chronicle that four plainclothes officers accompanied two Apple investigators who searched a San Francisco home for the iPhone prototype.
Apple employees who contacted the department asking for help finding a lost item conducted the house search after asking the resident’s permission, and the officers did not enter the home, according to police.
Apple tracked the smartphone to the home using GPS technology, but the device wasn’t found there, said Lt. Troy Dangerfield.
Apple officials have declined to comment on the case. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company is reportedly planning to release a new version of its popular iPhone this fall.
There was no record of the officers’ involvement in the search because Apple did not want a lost-property report created, which was within the company’s right, Suhr said.
The Associated Press
