If the information of the new product provides consumers even a reason to wait that could cost Apple dearly, this is why they are notoriously secretive.
Most customers are not even aware of possible model changes when they purchase. A reasonably technically adept friend of mine just bought a new iMac the other day. When they told me, they were very happy about and and I had to avoid noticeably wincing. If I had known before the purchase i would have advised them to wait for the upcoming redesigned models with the M-series chips instead of the old stuff. I think that this is how most customers approach purchases. They don’t pay attention to rumors and news about newer products.
But I think Apple's secrecy is more about maximizing the marketing impact of announcements, and making competitors work harder to predict product directions.
Tell that to people in the market for pro-level Mac hardware.
The article says, "the group is demanding that Apple pay an undisclosed ransom for the images/schematics they obtained via the supplier by May 1 [...] Until then, the hackers will continue to post new files every day, REvil said on its blog."
The target is only Apple itself, the random group does not accept third-party payment and will make all information public if it's not payed. So I don't think the group wants to sell the information to accessory manufacturers or Apple news sites.
That wouldn't be a viable business model for the ransom group; Any accessory manufacturer or news site would likely get in a legal entanglement for buying trade secrets.
Because they're so ethical? If a third party wanted to pay them $50M or even remotely close to that, they'd accept in 0 seconds.