Apple Inc. has always had a reputation as a secretive company, but a new missive from Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook takes the secrecy to a new level: The company will hunt down anyone who leaks and fire them.

Ironically, the confirmation of Apple’s paranoia comes via a leaked email Cook sent to Apple employees last week.

The email, first published by The Verge, could arguably be described as passive-aggressive. Cook (pictured) starts by saying it was great to connect with employees at a meeting and that there was much to celebrate. It continues with Cook citing climate change, racial equity and privacy as values that drive Apple’s work, buttering up employees before the knife came out.

“I’m writing today because I’ve heard from so many of you were incredibly frustrated to see the contents of the meeting leak to reporters,” Cook wrote. “This comes after a product launch in which most of the details of our announcements were also leaked to the press.”

Cook is referring to the “California Streaming” even on Sept. 14 where new iPhones, iPads and a new Apple Watch were debuted. The fact that famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had predicted most of the specs well in advance and some of the features were logical, incremental improvements that anyone who follows Apple could have guessed seems to be lost in Cook.

“I want you to know that I share your frustration,” Cook went on to write. “But they only work if we can trust that the content will stay within Apple.”

Cook continued: “I want to reassure you that we are doing everything in our power to identify those who leaked. As you know, we do not tolerate disclosures of confidential information, whether it’s product IP or the details of a confidential meeting. We know that the leakers constitute a small number of people. We also know that people who leak confidential information do not belong here.”

Cook then thanked Apple’s staff for all they’ve done to make Apple products a reality. Happy Tim Cook, aggressive Tim Cook, happy Tim Cook again — and throw in some politically correct buzzwords to sugarcoat an email meant to intimidate staff.

It’s not surprising. Steve Jobs was renowned for his temper tantrums and the awful way he treated staff. The main difference between Jobs and his protege Cook is that Cook occasionally tries to hide those tendencies.

Photo: The Climate Group