Update August 11, 2021: After nearly two years, Apple is burying the hatchet. According to The Washington Post, Apple and Corellium have reached an agreement. Corellium continues to sell their product, but it is unknown what the mutual agreements are. In December last year, the US judge already ruled that Corellium made fair use of Apple's code, but Apple continued to litigate until recently.
The following is our original article from August 16, 2019:
Apple sues Corellium
The lawsuit has been filed in southern Florida district court. Corellium has a virtualization solution for mobile devices, but has completely copied iOS in the process. Apple laments: “Corellium simply copied everything: the code, the graphical user interface, the icons, everything in exacting detail.” Corellium presents it as a serious solution for security researchers.
It is therefore not the case that Corellium sells devices that run a fake version of iOS. It is true that Corellium charges hefty prices for the service they offer. You can run a virtual version of iOS via the web or a local install that costs $1 million per year. However, Apple considers it illegal copies of iOS.
In August, Corellium showed the latest solution at the Black Hat conference: CORSEC. According to the makers, the software runs “the real iOS, with real bugs and real exploits”. You can mimic an iPhone XR, XS, XS Max or iPads with the software. Then you download an iOS build from the Apple servers and Corellium shows a fully functioning replica. You can also make multiple copies of a virtual device. According to Apple, several illegal copies of iOS are made in the process. Something similar goes for iTunes, which you can also use virtually with Corellium's tools.
Apple never licenses iOS and other software to others. The aim of the lawsuit is to ban Corellium's products and destroy the installations in use.
Revision history:
- 2021 – August 11, 10:33 AM: Apple has dropped charges against Corellium. We have therefore updated the article with the latest information.