What bugs me is that I can't imagine that every phone that is lost or stolen makes it's way to gizmodo, so how on earth did they find out that that phone was a prototype? Or did they really have a bunch of 'misses' before this 'hit'.
Apple should do exactly nothing about this, unless the prototype iphone was taken off their facility without their permission. If it was then the risk is theirs. Every day there must be thousands of phones that are lost, and it's not like it's a big deal anyway. Just another incremental upgrade to a consumer device, who cares.
It looked different. iPhones only come in a couple designs, it's not hard to tell when it's different.
It's not any phone. If it were a Nokia, one would have to be an expert to be sure at a quick glance it's not one of their 300+ phones currently being manufactured and it's, instead, a secret prototype.
Besides, not many people would care for a weird Nokia, Samsung, Motorola or HTC on a bar. We would, but, then, we are all nerds anyway.
In either case, this article is going to be the #1 Google hit for his name for years or decades. A smart manager would realise that this was a honest mistake, and he admitted to it and got Apple to remotely wipe the phone the next day, but I would not hope that most HR employees are as understanding.
Still, that would put him in a pretty difficult position. Having the perception that you were kept on just to avoid PR problems isn't an ideal situation. I'd rather be sacked quietly and look for a job elsewhere, or be quietly kept on; whatever the boss though best.
I'm sure that the reporters justify it to themselves on that basis. But they haven't looked ahead.