Apple rumor community

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 tight-lipped corporate policy about future products, has fostered an interest in the company's activities.

History

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.^{[citation needed]}

Historical Sites

MacOS Rumors

MacOS Rumors was founded by Ethan C. Allen in 1995. 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 inaccurate. 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.

ThinkSecret

Think Secret appeared in 1999. Apple filed a lawsuit against the company alleging it printed stories containing Apple trade secrets. In December 2007 the lawsuit was settled with no sources being disclosed; however, the site was shut down, finally closing on February 14, 2008.

In the year leading up to the closing of the site, ThinkSecret correctly predicted 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.

MacScoop

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. The site's owner is among those who were contacted by Apple lawyers in 2004 after publishing a Mac OS X Tiger related article.

Long recurring rumors that came true

1990s

• Apple entering the video game console market (confirmed with the introduction of the Pippin).

2000

• A small, square Mac tower with no monitor. Confirmed with the release of the Power Mac G4 Cube in 2000.

2005

• A cheaper, scaled down, "headless iMac". Confirmed with the release of the Mac mini in 2005.
• Mac OS X on Intel machines (Confirmed by the Apple–Intel transition in 2005)
• iPod with video playback (confirmed with the release of 5G iPod on October 12, 2005)
• Flash-based iPod (long rumored, confirmed with release of iPod shuffle and iPod nano in 2005)
• Video sales at the iTunes Store (confirmed on October 12, 2005)

2006

• Full-length movie sales at the iTunes Store (confirmed September 12, 2006)
• Redevelopment/re-implementation of Apple set-top box/DVR concept (see Apple Interactive Television Box, Macintosh TV) (confirmed with Apple TV on September 12, 2006)

2007

• iPhone (Motorola's Rokr was originally considered to be the iPhone, but an iPhone developed by Apple was confirmed at Macworld Expo January 9, 2007)
• Development of an advanced finger touch-screen device: confirmed with the release of the iPhone, which features a multi-touch technology, and brought to the iPod line with the iPod touch.
• The addition of a spreadsheet application to iWork (confirmed on August 7, 2007, with the introduction of Numbers).
• iPod with a big screen filling its entire front for movie playback (sometimes referred to as "true" or "widescreen" video iPod): Somewhat came true with the iPhone, and fully realized with the iPod touch, announced September 5, 2007.

2008

• Movie rentals on iTunes Store, confirmed on January 15, 2008.
• An ultra-light subnotebook, confirmed on January 15 with the introduction of the MacBook Air.
• A new manufacturing technique for new notebooks, confirmed on October 14 with the introduction of the unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro. However, it turns out the method for creating new notebooks was not actually "new" as it had been secretly introduced with the MacBook Air.

2010

• Apple iPad, rumored as iSlate or iTablet, was announced January 27, 2010.
• Apple iPhone 4, rumored as the "iPhone HD" and/or "iPhone 4G", was announced on June 7, 2010.

2011

• A version of the iPhone 4 using CDMA technology to run on the Verizon Wireless cellular network in the United States, long rumored as the "Verizon iPhone" since shortly after the original iPhone on AT&T was announced, was announced on January 11, 2011.

2012 iPhone 5 (not confirmed yet)

Websites

The Apple rumors community is currently made up of several 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.

MacBidouille/HardMac

The French site MacBidouille (French for "MacHacks") used to report rumors, although they stopped for multiple reasons. However, they still "speculate" from time to time, such as for the release of the G5. 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.

MacRumors

Main article: MacRumors

In 2000, MacRumors appeared as an aggregator of Mac-related rumors and reports around the Mac web. MacRumors has over 400,000 members and over 10,000,000 forum posts. In addition to providing rumors, news, and an active forum, MacRumors also broadcasts live coverage of Apple announcements via MacRumorsLive.com.

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 users. The channel is moderated by "Operators" who provide assistance.

The channel can be found at irc.krono.net #macrumors

The Unofficial Apple Blog

Launched in 2011, The Unofficial Apple Blog is a rumor website. The site offers a daily newsletter on every post in that day, free computer/small electronic device support, rumors and Apple news.

Extra-community activities

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.

Apple's response

Apple's official stance on the Mac rumor scene has been one of disapproval.^{[citation needed]} Cease and desist orders were not uncommon. Historically, however, Apple has primarily pursued the leakers of information rather than the rumor sites themselves.^{[citation needed]} Apple's recent suit against Think Secret, however, is targeting whether these sites have the right to knowingly publish this protected information.^{[citation needed]}

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. The domain SuperSecretAppleRumors.com, was registered by a member of said community, and used to redirect to the rumor site AppleNova.

See also

• Rumor Sites
  • MacRumors
  • DaringFireball
• General Apple Pages
  • Apple Inc.
  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • iPod
  • Mac