It wasn't Apple, it was some employee who like all of us, probably had a bit too much to drink and left his phone. Or maybe it got pick pocketed? Honestly, this only a recent occurrence because Apple iPhones are small enough to forget, unlike laptops, and people actually care about them, unlike the latest ipod nano/mini/shuffle/touch.
And it's only happened twice in a period of what? 4 years of iPhones?
Are the devices a ubiquitous, integrated part of daily life that reach the point of barely being thought about?
Are they even something one pulls out and uses in a bar?
stock production refers to the point that most Apple employees will not be using prototypes out of the office
the jackbooted bit refers to this happening before and Apple would have been thought to have been using a lot more care this time around
The italicised bit was not 'my company makes stuff'. I find it weird that I have to point this out.
In any case, cell phones require real-world field testing. There's only so much care you can put into it without crippling the tests.
Most companies lose mobile consumer electronics prototypes constantly and don't think twice about it. The fact that it happens so rarely for Apple is ample evidence that they're being far more careful than most companies, and it only gets attention because they're incredibly secretive and react to leaks as you describe.
Looks like they need to put a where's my phone app in those test builds.
Create a paired bluetooth device (or whatever), one half is a tiny attachment that goes on the prototype, the other is attached to a buzzer on your keychain or somesuch. Out of range or only at half power? Off goes the buzzer: "Hey, I forgot something!". For a company as secretive, innovative, and wealthy as Apple, this kind of 'prototype protection' in the field is easily answered.
I wont be surprised if the person who lost the prototype was wined & dined by a "new friend".