It’s no secret that Apple is one of the most secretive companies in the world (see what I did there?) – so much so that it’s a core part of their business model. Countless people try to worm their way into the Apple campus at One Infinite Loop, but no-one makes it inside. A new book released this week gives just that – a look inside – and it’s nothing like you think it is.

Apple, a company so big that it has it’s own power plant, is nothing like the all-glass “mothership” normally seen through the eye of the media. According to the new tell-all book, “Inside Apple”, the reality is a vast  think-farm of windowless offices, neutered egos and hardcore secrecy. Secrecy is so intense that most employees don’t even know the products that they are working on. Product testing is limited to blacked-out “lockrooms,” and those that are allowed to play with the new products are limited to a group of 100, hand-picked by the CEO. Regarding the intense secrecy:

[Jobs would] say, ‘Anything disclosed from this meeting will result not just in termination but in the prosecution to the fullest extent that our lawyers can.’ That made me very uncomfortable. You have to watch everything you do. I’d have nightmares,”

When a new product is launched, Apple employees gather in the cafeteria and show as much excitement as the consumer – they finally get to see what they’ve been working on for the last few months. Pretty intense, no?

The next time you read a rumour about the iPhone 5 or what not, know that it’s all smoke and hot air, because not even those that work for Apple know.

[Source: Telegraph]