[MBCook]

Apple does leak things intentionally, we pretty much know that. For example last year it's widely assumed that they were responsible for the leaks about the headphone jack disappearing so that the enthusiasts set would know what was coming and have some time to "get over it" some.

It's also assumed that Apple leaked the thousand dollar price for the original iPad just so they could announce it at $500 and blow everyone away.

In both cases the leak benefited Apple.

I'm not sure what in this leak would be beneficial to Apple. All it does is make it so people will be less surprised on Tuesday and they won't be able to catch people by surprise as much.

I'm strongly willing to bet that this leak (in the HomePod a month ago) we're purposefully done by Apple.

It's pretty obvious someone did this purposefully, but I don't think they did it with Apple's blessing/planning. It was an individual employee (or a few) doing it on their own.

[KGIII]

Would you say they suffered? It would be interesting to know which leaks are sanctioned, as well. This one? It looks like it just gives them more free publicity.

[MBCook]

Anything about Apple gets publicity, but now it's not as much of a surprise on Tuesday. They work really hard on that surprise so I don't see why they would leak it Friday.

Sometimes the leaks have a clear benefits to Apple, I don't think this is one of them.

[KGIII]

I'm going to speculate that anyone who was interested in Tuesday's revelations will still be observing on Tuesday. This is Apple, after all. They have a pretty dedicated following.