I'm going to go on the other end of the spectrum here and say while it would be funny, this guy should sooooo be fired. He gets drunk and loses a highly secret piece of property and everyone seems to think he should get a pass. Consider all the long term planning Apple invests towards each product announcement that his act of negligence has just mucked up. Between the added planning, legal time and other commotion over this, what do you think he has cost the company and its stockholders? Would you trust this guy with your documents or private material? Unless he is some kind of savant, I would boot him in a heartbeat.
I understand your point and in the cold reality of business it makes perfect sense. However, luckily for him any substantial loss of money and time for Apple at this time over this incident would be just Greed. I'm not an economist nor do I have extensive knowledge of the stock market but I know enough to be certain that Apple is doing extremely well, this isn't Palm we're talking about. Apple isn't losing money over this, the press will be there just as strong for the official unveil.
His slip up ended up generating even more buzz and free publicity for Apple. This "my bad" hurt not one, save maybe Steve Jobs pride. He didn't affect any other employee's work, he wasn't the cause of anyone's misfortune or suffering; and he certainly didn't kill or hurt anyone. The shame and embarrassment over this punishment enough, the scope of it will last his life.
I agree that disciplinary action will be required on some form at Apple's discretion but seeking punishment for the sake of some sense vengeance is wrong and pointless. Apple has nothing to gain from firing this guy and we can all be reasonably sure he'll never lose another phone again or other hardware.
Apple doesn't want a bad image, despite it's critics it wants people to like it. People are already watching how this is going to end with a lot of scrutiny and they don't want the poor fella to get the boot. His mistake was human, something everyone can associate with. Apple will just generate discontent by kicking him out, but would gain approval by keeping him on and making the most of it with their star power.
Cheers