The Apple rumor community is concerned with Apple Inc. and its products, including the Macintosh, the iPhone, the iPod and the iPad. In recent years, a subculture has developed around rumors about new products and services from Apple. The company enjoys a cult-like following for its Macintosh platform. This, combined with a very tight-lipped corporate policy about future products, has fostered this interest in the company's activities.
Contents |
The industry of Macintosh speculation, known as "Mac Rumors," began with a regular column in the now defunct MacWEEK magazine called "Mac the Knife" and written under a pseudonym. This column would often cover topics such as upcoming hardware releases from Apple, as well as new software products and incremental updates with new features. It was written by the MacWeek staff and was sometimes used by companies as an early form of viral marketing to generate buzz around products before they were ready for release. For instance, Macromedia would tout new features in the upgrade to its drawing program when buzz was building for an imminent release of Adobe Illustrator.
MacOS Rumors was founded by Ethan C. Allen in 1995 and is considered the first Mac rumors site. It was obtained by Ryan Meader after a domain expiration within two years of its creation. Originally with Ethan, the site posted most of its rumors based on screenshots and info sent via email from followers. With Ryan at the helm, MacOS Rumors collected content from message boards and usenet posts but later claimed (unsubstantiated) to have developed contacts inside Apple. In the past few years MacOS Rumors has gained a reputation for being notoriously inaccurate with many claims that the content is fabricated.[1] Meader had allowed the MacOS Rumors domain name to expire around July 16, 2007, but then renewed the domain for another nine years and announced the addition of a new staff writer.
Think Secret appeared in 1999. Apple filed a lawsuit against the company alleging it printed stories containing Apple trade secrets.[2] In December 2007 the lawsuit was settled with no sources being disclosed; however, the site was shut down, finally closing on February 14, 2008.[3]
In the year leading up to the closing of the site, ThinkSecret started showing signs that its accuracies were rising again, with its correct prediction of an aluminium shell iMac, development of a touchscreen based iPod starting in 2006, and the relative BlackBerry-esque form factor of the new iPod Nano. However, there were still some reports that turned out to be false, such as its prediction of the demise of the Mac Mini, when it received an upgrade in mid-2007, albeit with no fanfare.[4]
Initiated in May 2002 as MacOSXRumors, MacScoop initially focused on Mac OS X but eventually became an outlet for general Apple news and rumors. The site was renamed MacScoop in September 2006, with MacOSXRumors.com remaining focused on Mac OS X.[5] The site's owner is among those who were contacted by Apple lawyers in 2004 after publishing a Mac OS X Tiger related article.[6]
The Apple rumors community is currently made up of several major websites. Additionally most of the other mainstream technology sites including Ars Technica, Engadget, Gizmodo and Slashdot include Apple sections and sometimes release rumors of their own.
9to5Mac is a fairly new rumor site that received little attention, until all of its predictions about the aluminum iMac came true. It then leaked what it purported to be genuine pictures of the third generation iPod nano,[7] which Apple later demanded to be removed, as well as leaking information about the iPod touch. 9to5Mac is now widely believed to have a real source inside Apple and is currently one of the most believed rumor sites. Most recently, 9to5Mac correctly predicited most of what became the iPhone 4S. Author Mark Gurman originally revealed the products iPhone 4S name back in April - a full 6 months prior to the announcement. Gurman also revealed that the iPhone 4S would include a Siri Assistant feature with Wolfram Alpha integration, the dual-core A5 processor from the iPad 2, and 64GB of storage capacity. 9to5Mac also has pinpointed Mac launch dates and has leaked internal executive shifts.
The French site MacBidouille used to report rumors, although they stopped for multiple reasons.[8] However, they still "speculate" from time to time, such as for the release of the G5.[9] Otherwise, MacBidouille (French for "MacHacks") is one of the best sites of information for French Mac users. It offers daily news, articles and forums, which are amongst the largest ones devoted to French-speaking Mac users. If rumors and announces made part of its fame, most of its articles give technical (testing, fixing, and customizing) or commercial information – and sometimes harsh criticisms against Apple's policy. There is an English version of the site called HardMac, which carries the actual same news and articles (usually with a half-day delay), translated in English by a team of volunteers.
In 2000, MacRumors appeared as an aggregator of Mac-related rumors and reports around the Mac web. By consolidating reports and cross-referencing claims, MacRumors attempts to keep track of the rumor community. MacRumors now has over 400,000 members and over 10,000,000 forum posts.[10] In addition to providing rumors, news, and an active forum, MacRumors also serves as one of the most prominent sites for broadcasting live coverage of Apple announcements via MacRumorsLive.com. Macrumors is also home to one of the biggest Mac based forums. Users can find support for many Apple related issues, as well as talk to other Mac users about other community and industry related issues.
MacRumors has an Official "Internet Relay Chat" Channel where current events are discussed "Real Time". It is also a place where many Mac users seek assistance from other proficient Mac users. The channel is moderated by many lively "Operators" who provide assistance as well as good natured discussion of many topics. Topics are not limited to "Mac" only conversations. Anything Apple Related is welcomed, and often general "Technical" questions can also be answered here.
The channel can be found at irc.krono.net #macrumors
Launched in 2011, The Unofficial Apple Blog is an extremely accurate rumor website. Reporting on all things Apple, this site has gained some popularity since their launch. The site offers a daily newsletter on every post in that day, free computer/small electronic device support and, of course, rumors and Apple news.
The Mac rumors user communities often coordinate their ranks in extra-community activities. For example, Stanford University's Folding@home distributed computing protein research project keeps track of how much computer power is donated by users, and currently 6 of the top 100 teams are organized by Mac rumors-related websites.[11]
Apple's official stance on the Mac rumor scene has been one of disapproval. Cease and desist orders were not uncommon when rumor sites were able to accurately report product images or documents. Historically, however, Apple has primarily pursued the leakers of information rather than the rumor sites themselves. Apple's recent suit against Think Secret, however, is targeting whether these sites have the right to knowingly publish this protected information.
During his January 10, 2006 keynote address to the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs poked fun at the rumors community by pretending to create a "Super Secret Apple Rumors" podcast during his demonstration of new features in GarageBand.[12] The domain SuperSecretAppleRumors.com, was registered by a member of said community, and used to redirect to the rumor site AppleNova.
Below are the more popular rumor websites.