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===2010s===
===2010s===
In 2010, MacRumors celebrated its 10th anniversary and set out plans for a site redesign that came into effect the following year.<ref name="rumor_king" /> In May 2010, the website reached 10 million forum posts and 438,000 forum members, and was ranked among the top 500 U.S. websites.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/29/macrumors-reaches-ten-million-forum-posts/ |title=MacRumors Reaches Ten Million Forum Posts [Updated] |date=May 29, 2010 |website=[[MacRumors]] |access-date=October 24, 2022| language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024100426/https://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/29/macrumors-reaches-ten-million-forum-posts/ |archive-date=October 24, 2022}}</ref> The site also launched its first annual blood drive, seeking to encourage more people to donate blood.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}
In 2010, MacRumors celebrated its 10th anniversary and set out plans for a site redesign that came into effect the following year.<ref name="rumor_king" /> In May 2010, the website reached 10 million forum posts and 438,000 forum members, and was ranked among the top 500 U.S. websites.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/29/macrumors-reaches-ten-million-forum-posts/ |title=MacRumors Reaches Ten Million Forum Posts [Updated] |date=May 29, 2010 |website=[[MacRumors]] |access-date=October 24, 2022| language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024100426/https://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/29/macrumors-reaches-ten-million-forum-posts/ |archive-date=October 24, 2022}}</ref> The site also launched its first annual blood drive, seeking to encourage more people to donate blood.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.macrumors.com/2023/05/01/macrumors-2023-blood-drive/|title=MacRumors 2023 Blood Drive|website=macrumours.com|access-date=16 January 2023}}</ref>


While MacRumors has had a YouTube channel since January 17, 2006,<ref name="youtube" /> it did not begin regularly posting original video content until September 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/17/ios-8-hidden-features-video/ |title=iOS 8 Hidden Features Video: Battery Usage By App, Hidden Photos, Siri Hands-Free, and More |first=Juli |last=Clover |date=September 17, 2014 |website=[[MacRumors]] |access-date=October 24, 2022 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024154408/https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/17/ios-8-hidden-features-video/ |archive-date=October 24, 2022}}</ref>
While MacRumors has had a YouTube channel since January 17, 2006,<ref name="youtube" /> it did not begin regularly posting original video content until September 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/17/ios-8-hidden-features-video/ |title=iOS 8 Hidden Features Video: Battery Usage By App, Hidden Photos, Siri Hands-Free, and More |first=Juli |last=Clover |date=September 17, 2014 |website=[[MacRumors]] |access-date=October 24, 2022 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024154408/https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/17/ios-8-hidden-features-video/ |archive-date=October 24, 2022}}</ref>

Revision as of 05:28, 16 June 2023

MacRumors
The logo of MacRumors, a stylized apple featuring a question mark.
Screenshot
Screenshot of macrumors.com on September 7, 2022, during Apple's iPhone 14 "Far out" event.
Type of site
News website
Available inEnglish
HeadquartersGlen Allen, Virginia
Country of originUnited States
OwnerMacRumors.com, LLC
Founder(s)Arnold Kim
EditorEric Slivka
Key people
  • Juli Clover
  • Joe Rossignol
  • Tim Hardwick
  • Hartley Charlton
  • Mitchel Broussard
  • Dan Barbera
URLmacrumors.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional, required to post on forums
Users1.09 million forum usersa
LaunchedFebruary 24, 2000; 24 years ago (2000-02-24)
Current statusActive
a Total forum members (October 2022).[1]

MacRumors.com is an American website that reports and aggregates Apple Inc.- and Mac-related news, rumors, and information.

The site was founded in February 2000 by Arnold Kim and remains a privately owned publication.[2][3][4] Kim has been profiled in publications including The New York Times and hailed as "Apple Rumor King" owing to his work on MacRumors.[5][4] The company's headquarters are located in Glen Allen, Virginia, but the editorial staff work remotely from around the world.[2] Eric Slivka is the site's Editor-in-Chief.[6]

By consolidating reports and cross-referencing claims, MacRumors aims to keep track of Apple news and rumors as they develop. MacRumors primarily functions as an aggregator of rumors from other sources rather than posting exclusive leaks to avoid legal difficulties.[4] Nevertheless, MacRumors occasionally breaks original stories, such as revealing the name of the iPad using trademark filings in prior to its announcement in 2010.[7] The website is updated on a daily basis with new articles.[citation needed] It also provides a selection of other content including guides, tutorials, videos, and a podcast.

Content

News and rumors

MacRumors publishes news articles about Apple, including, but not limited to, its product development operations, software, services, supply chain, corporate affairs, and retail aspects. During Apple events, where the company unveils new products and services, MacRumors operates a liveblog and publishes articles in real-time.

The site has grown considerably through the years, but the basic format hasn't changed. The news and rumor focus has remained generally consistent. In fact, I've always prided myself on the selectivity of the news we choose to report on and how seriously we take our reporting.[8]

Arnold Kim, 2011

In addition to Apple's official developments, MacRumors curates rumors and reports from other sources. Apple has a famously intense culture of corporate secrecy that inspires interest in its upcoming product announcements and speculation.[5] As such, reporting appropriately sourced information about Apple's plans comprises a key element of MacRumors' coverage. It scrutinizes the source of information posted on the website and uses an evidence-based approach, assessing track records, corroboration, and plausibility of rumors in relation to Apple's past behavior and overall history – seeking to provide an accurate picture of the company's behind-the-scenes endeavors.[4]

Buyer's Guide

Apple does not provide advance warning of when product updates are imminent. MacRumors hosts a specialized "Buyer's Guide" to help average shoppers avoid buyer's remorse by clarifying when is a good time to buy a particular Apple device based on the timing of its introduction, how long the company usually waits to refresh the product, and rumors about impending hardware updates.[4][9] It also provides comparative Buyer's Guide articles to help Apple customers weigh up different product lines and make purchasing decisions.[citation needed]

Forum

MacRumors is home to a large, community-oriented Apple- and Mac-focused forum with over 1.09 million members and over 30 million forum posts as of October 2022.[1] Every news article on the site is simultaneously posted to the forums for discussion.[citation needed]

Videos and podcast

MacRumors has a corresponding YouTube channel hosted by video producer Dan Barbera that provides content related to the website's coverage, including noteworthy Apple rumors, new product launches, reviews, tutorials, and more.[10] As of October 2022, MacRumors' YouTube channel has almost half a million subscribers and 139 million video views.[11]

MacRumors also has a weekly podcast, titled "The MacRumors Show", that discusses the latest Apple news. It is hosted by Barbera and senior editor Hartley Charlton, and the podcast is offered in both audio and video formats on various platforms. The podcast often features prominent YouTubers and industry figures as guests, such Rene Ritchie,[12] iJustine,[13] and John Gruber.[14]

Business

MacRumors is a high-traffic monetized business that offers banner ads, conducts affiliate marketing, and sells video, newsletter, and podcast sponsorship.[15] Forum members can purchase a paid membership subscription for the site that allows users to filter front page stories according to their preferences, remove all ads, get access to private forums, and help to support the site.

As of April 30, 2012, according to Quantcast, MacRumors received an average 65,890,912 page views globally per month, and 7,567,679 visitors per month globally.[16] Website traffic often increases dramatically during Apple events, such as WWDC.[citation needed] The website continues to have tens of millions of unique visitors every month.[2]

History

2000s

File:Macrumors-screenshot-08-17-2000.jpg
Screenshot of macrumors.com on August 17, 2000.

Kim launched MacRumors as a solo enterprise on February 24, 2000 during his fourth and final year of medical school at the Medical College of Virginia, requiring "little financing".[4][2][3][8] The site was initially designed as an independent blog to dissect the secrets of Apple, his favorite technology company.[4] MacRumors has since been credited as a pioneering blog.[3]

Apple Power Mac G5

In 2002, Kim screenshot and published details about schematic drawings of a new, aluminum case for the Power Mac G5 that were initially posted on MacRumors' forum. Apple sent Kim a takedown request and he complied, but the news had already spread.[4][17][18] The following year, Kim received a subpoena to hand over information with regards to the leak.[18] An Apple contract worker was subsequently charged with misappropriation of trade secrets in connection to the case.[19]

In 2002, some forum members complained about political discussion taking over the website, leading to the opening of a specific politics subforum. The subforum was closed in 2003 but reopened as a Politics, Religion, Social Issues subforum with stricter rules shortly thereafter.[20] Around 2003 to 2004, ad revenue from the site started growing significantly.[21] In 2005, MacRumors started "turning a substantial profit".[5]

During his January 10, 2006 keynote address to the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs poked fun at the rumor community by pretending to create a "Super Secret Apple Rumors" podcast during his demonstration of new features in GarageBand.[22]

Kim worked on MacRumors part-time as a hobby until 2008, when he gave up his job at a private nephrology practice in Richmond to work on the site full-time.[5][2][3][8] MacRumors reached around 40 million pageviews per month later that year.[5] The 2008 global financial crisis did not "tangibly" affect MacRumors.[8] In 2009, the company hired four full-time employees, increasing the site's capacity to cover Apple news and rumors.[8] Advertising revenue rose further in 2009 and 2010.[8]

During the Macworld 2009 keynote, the site's live coverage on the separate domain MacRumorsLive.com was hacked to insert inappropriate content into the text and photo live feeds, some of which related to the health of Apple CEO Steve Jobs.[23][24][25][26] The incident was particularly controversial because it came amid multiple false reports of Jobs' death.[27] MacRumors ended its coverage early and the episode provoked a volatile reaction on Twitter.[25][28] Kim apologized following the event.[23][29] It subsequently emerged that the hackers appeared to be associated with imageboard site 4chan.[24][25][26][30]

2010s

In 2010, MacRumors celebrated its 10th anniversary and set out plans for a site redesign that came into effect the following year.[4] In May 2010, the website reached 10 million forum posts and 438,000 forum members, and was ranked among the top 500 U.S. websites.[31] The site also launched its first annual blood drive, seeking to encourage more people to donate blood.[32]

While MacRumors has had a YouTube channel since January 17, 2006,[11] it did not begin regularly posting original video content until September 2014.[33]

On October 16, 2014 at an Apple Special Event keynote, senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi pretended to "triple down on secrecy" by hiring Stephen Colbert as "Supreme Commander of Secrecy." He poked fun at "spaceship" rumors related to the construction of Apple Park, seemingly referring to the rumor community supported by the website.[34] Around 2016 to 2017, MacRumors' editorial team began to experiment with podcasting.[citation needed]

2020s

In 2020, the site celebrated its 20th anniversary.[35] In December 2021, it launched its podcast titled "The MacRumors Show" hosted by Barbera and Charlton.[36] The podcast's first guest was renowned Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.[37]

In July 2021, MacRumors announced that it was immediately closing down its Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum, prohibiting all political and social issue discussions from the site with the exception of News stories that are explicitly categorized under Political News.[20]

In popular culture

American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter Jason Segel is a MacRumors reader and often brings up his affection for the website publicly. In the DVD commentary for 2008 comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Segel told Mila Kunis that he enjoyed learning about Apple's upcoming releases and was a fan of MacRumors. "I love macrumors.com," Segel said, "it's tomorrow's Mac news today". The commentary jokingly suggested that he had a deal with MacRumors to promote the site.[38]

When promoting "Otherworld" in 2017 alongside Kirsten Miller, Segel once again mentioned his fondness for MacRumors, commenting that "Every morning when I wake up I immediately go on to macrumors.com to see what's new".[39]

Sister sites

See also: TouchArcade

Mobile video game website TouchArcade is MacRumors' sister site since it is owned by Kim. He founded TouchArcade in 2008 with Blake Patterson.[5][3][40]

MacRumors and TouchArcade were also sister sites with App Store discovery and price tracking site AppShopper until June 2021, when Kim took the decision to shut it down.[41][42]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "MacRumors Forums". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "About MacRumors.com". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e Frommer, Dan (July 13, 2008). "Nephrologist To Mac Blogger: The Unlikely Career Path Of MacRumors' Arnold Kim". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i X. Chen, Brian (February 23, 2010). "Arnold Kim Celebrates 10 Years as Apple Rumor King". Wired. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Stelter, Brian (July 21, 2008). "My Son, the Blogger: An M.D. Trades Medicine for Apple Rumors". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
  6. ^ Kelion, Leo (September 24, 2014). "Bent iPhone claims put Apple under pressure to respond". BBC News. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  7. ^ Kim, Arnold (January 19, 2010). "Will Apple's Tablet Actually Be Called the iPad? New Trademarks Filed This Week". MacRumors. Retrieved February 23, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Butchy, Laura (May 21, 2011). "Arnold Kim '96 Diagnoses Apple on MacRumors.com". Columbia College Today. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  9. ^ "MacRumors Buyer's Guide". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  10. ^ Lewis, David (November 9, 2022). "The one with Dan Barbera from MacRumors". talkingtechandaudio.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; November 15, 2022 suggested (help)
  11. ^ a b "Social Blade YouTube Statistics". Social Blade. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  12. ^ Charlton, Hartley (March 25, 2022). "The MacRumors Show: Rene Ritchie Talks Mac Studio Performance and Studio Display Controversy". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  13. ^ Charlton, Hartley (July 15, 2022). "The MacRumors Show: M2 MacBook Air First Impressions ft. iJustine". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  14. ^ Charlton, Hartley (November 9, 2022). "The MacRumors Show: John Gruber Talks macOS Ventura and Upcoming Macs". MacRumors. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; November 15, 2022 suggested (help)
  15. ^ "Advertise on MacRumors". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  16. ^ "Macrumors.com Traffic and Demographic Statistics by Quantcast". quantcast.com.
  17. ^ Kim, Arnold (July 21, 2002). "Leaked Pro Mac Photo Summary". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  18. ^ a b Colker, David (January 7, 2003). "Rumors Worm Around Apple". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  19. ^ Kim, Arnold (December 11, 2002). "Apple Takes Legal Action Against Leak". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Politics, Religion, Social Issues Forum Closed (July 2021)". MacRumors Forums. July 4, 2021. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; January 28, 2023 suggested (help)
  21. ^ Goldstein, Jacob (July 21, 2008). "Blogging About Apple Pays Better Than Practicing Medicine". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  22. ^ Graham, Jefferson (January 10, 2006). "Jobs basks in iPod sales, plugs Macs with Intel chips". USA Today. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  23. ^ a b Kim, Arnold (January 6, 2009). "MacRumorsLive Hacked". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  24. ^ a b McCarthy, Caroline (January 6, 2009). "Hackers hit MacRumors keynote coverage". CNET. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  25. ^ a b c Sheehan, Michael (January 6, 2009). "MacRumorsLive Gets HACKED Covering Macworld Expo 2009". HighTechDad. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  26. ^ a b Khan, Urmee (January 7, 2009). "Macworld 2009: Hackers make spoof announcement of Steve Jobs death". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  27. ^ Thomas, Owen (January 6, 2009). "Hackers Post Faked Report of Steve Jobs's Death". Gawker. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  28. ^ Deleon, Nicholas (January 6, 2009). "Today we are all MacRumors". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  29. ^ Sutherland, Ed (January 7, 2009). "Hackers Attack MacRumors Macworld Keynote Coverage". Cult of Mac. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  30. ^ "Now, hackers say Steve Jobs dead". The Economic Times. January 9, 2009. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  31. ^ "MacRumors Reaches Ten Million Forum Posts [Updated]". MacRumors. May 29, 2010. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  32. ^ "MacRumors 2023 Blood Drive". macrumours.com. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  33. ^ Clover, Juli (September 17, 2014). "iOS 8 Hidden Features Video: Battery Usage By App, Hidden Photos, Siri Hands-Free, and More". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  34. ^ "Apple triples down on security by 'hiring' Stephen Colbert". CNET. October 16, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  35. ^ Slivka, Eric (February 24, 2020). "MacRumors is 20 Years Old Today". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  36. ^ Charlton, Hartley (December 29, 2021). "Introducing 'The MacRumors Show' Podcast". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  37. ^ Charlton, Hartley (January 6, 2022). "The MacRumors Show: Mark Gurman Talks Through Everything Apple is Expected to Announce in 2022". MacRumors. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  38. ^ Segel, Jason (September 30, 2008). Forgetting Sarah Marshall Official DVD Commentary. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  39. ^ Lodge, Sally (October 24, 2017). "Four Questions for Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  40. ^ Hodapp, Eli (June 23, 2015). "TouchArcade Needs Your Help, Please Support Our Patreon". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  41. ^ Herbert, Chris (May 8, 2012). "Review: TouchArcade for iPhone". MacStories. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  42. ^ "Anybody know why AppShopper.com is shutting down?". MacRumors Forums. June 14, 2021. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; January 28, 2023 suggested (help)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MacRumors&oldid=1160386624"