Apple has filed a lawsuit against a former Apple Watch engineer, accusing him of stealing confidential information before leaving the company to join OPPO. The suit filed in California, names former Sensor System Architect Chen Shi, as well as the Chinese tech giant as defendants.
According to the filing, Shi worked at Apple from January 2020 until June 2025, during which he had access to sensitive projects involving health-related technologies such as optical, temperature and ECG sensors. Apple alleges that Shi began pursuing employment with OPPO as early as April 2025, while telling his managers that he was returning to China to care for his parents and did not intend to find new work.
The company claims that Shi arranged multiple one-on-one meetings with Apple Watch team members to gather details on their work and downloaded 63 documents from a protected folder, which he copied to a USB drive. Apple also said that searches found on his company-issued MacBook included “how to wipe out macbook” and “can somebody see if I’ve opened a file on a shared drive?”
Court documents allege that Shi informed OPPO he would “collect as much information as possible” about Apple’s health-sensing technologies before leaving. Apple claims it later discovered messages on Shi’s company-issued iPhone that suggested the Chinese tech company was aware of and supported the plan. Shi now leads a sensing technology team at OPPO, according to Apple.
OPPO, in a statement to MacRumors, denied wrongdoing, saying it had found no evidence linking Shi’s alleged actions to his work at the company. It also rejected Apple’s claims of misappropriating trade secrets.
