iPhone Used to Browse MacRumors.com?

MacRumors · May 25, 2007, 06:44 PM

It looks like someone at Apple has started more openly testing the Apple iPhone across web sites, including MacRumors.com.

One reader tipped us off that they had come across iPhone browser identification strings in the Apache logs of their eBay images. According to their submitted logs, the browser identifies itself as:

Quote:

Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A538a Safari/419.3

While browser identification strings can be easily spoofed, these requests originated from Apple's internal IP addresses.

After this tip, we were able to confirm similar findings in our own logs, verifying the above claims.

matthewHUB · May 25, 2007, 06:46 PM

omfg. that rocks.

Zwhaler · May 25, 2007, 06:46 PM

Cool I hope they find and post in this thread

PlaceofDis · May 25, 2007, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matthewHUB

omfg. that rocks.

seconded. thats just freaking awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwhaler

Cool I hope they find and post in this thread

too bad they can't because of their NDAs.

justflie · May 25, 2007, 06:48 PM

Haha. Awesome. But seriously, who routinely goes through their logs for an ebay site? lol. But hey, nice find!

psychofreak · May 25, 2007, 06:49 PM

Its Steve, and he's lurking here to stalk ME...

Detlev_73 · May 25, 2007, 06:50 PM

If this proves that folks at Apple look at MacRumors, then they clearly must have some idea of what users really want. Hopefully, they read the thread that was a nearly unanimous negative on the demise of the Mini, because it can't go away.

raggedjimmi · May 25, 2007, 06:52 PM

The perfect feel good news to hear after watching the perfect feel good film (Ferris Bueller

)

kainjow · May 25, 2007, 06:52 PM

Wow... someone used an iPhone to look at a website and it's news

Peel · May 25, 2007, 06:52 PM

Arn,

So which rumors/forums did the good people at Apple look at whilst they were here at MacRumors?

Vidd · May 25, 2007, 06:53 PM

How cool. I wonder how it looks!

szark · May 25, 2007, 06:54 PM

Well, it was confirmed some time ago (by the mods) that Apple employees occasionally browse the site.

* waves to Apple employees *

And, it's news because it proves there are actual functional units roaming around, and we can determine some (but not much) information from the browser string.

SteveG4Cube · May 25, 2007, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Detlev_73

If this proves that folks at Apple look at MacRumors, then they clearly must have some idea of what users really want. Hopefully, they read the thread that was a nearly unanimous negative on the demise of the Mini, because it can't go away.

Yeah... because the opinions of 400 Mac zealots make a dent in the Mini's target market.

512ke · May 25, 2007, 06:57 PM

I bet Apple Employees also want to know what the rumors are. They probably don't know everything that's behind closed doors at Apple either.

As for the testing... good. Let's hope they're testing the iPhone browser 24/7... to make sure it works on as many sites as possible.

arn · May 25, 2007, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peel

Arn,

So which rumors/forums did the good people at Apple look at whilst they were here at MacRumors?

I don't feel comfortable posting any specific information from our own logs, as we generally are pretty strict about privacy of information when people browse our site. What I posted was submitted from an outside individual and I was able to verify it to be reputable.

arn

psychofreak · May 25, 2007, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveG4Cube

Yeah... because the opinions of 400 Mac zealots make a dent in the Mini's target market.

The mac fans have a great impact on the market...people convince other people to switch, who convince other people to switch, who convince other people to switch, who...

iPodAddict · May 25, 2007, 06:59 PM

I believe it. Apple most certainly has people testing the iPhone as we speak.

kainjow · May 25, 2007, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by szark

And, it's news because it proves there are actual functional units roaming around, and we can determine some (but not much) information from the browser string.

Apple would be insane NOT to have functional units being tested within a month of the product's launch.

eenu · May 25, 2007, 07:01 PM

I can confirm the same from my logs

tk421 · May 25, 2007, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raggedjimmi

The perfect feel good news to hear after watching the perfect feel good film (Ferris Bueller

)

Seriously. This story made my day!

Now to go enjoy a nice three-day weekend...

LostPacket · May 25, 2007, 07:02 PM

They were probably checking to see if the iPhone was still shipping at the end of June.

puckhead193 · May 25, 2007, 07:04 PM

i would love to see a screen shot of the iphone on MR.

skinnylegs · May 25, 2007, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Wow... someone used an iPhone to look at a website and it's news

Sorry if it's not newsworthy enough for you, buddy. We'll try and hunt down something that will suits your tastes.

Awesome! Wish we had some accompanying pics.

flopticalcube · May 25, 2007, 07:07 PM

I wonder if it makes phone calls too?

skinnylegs · May 25, 2007, 07:09 PM

I'm guessing it's fully functional seeing as launch date *appears* be less than 30 days away.

I've seen the videos a bazillion times but I am really looking forward to seeing firsthand how internet browsing on the iPhone pans out.

May 25, 2007, 06:48 PM	#5
justflie macrumors 6502a Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Red Sox Nation	Haha. Awesome. But seriously, who routinely goes through their logs for an ebay site? lol. But hey, nice find! __________________ 2 x 2.66 GHz 2009 Mac Pro, 6 GB RAM, GTX 285 ; 32GB iPhone 3GS

May 25, 2007, 06:50 PM	#7
Detlev_73 macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Roswell, GA	Perhaps... If this proves that folks at Apple look at MacRumors, then they clearly must have some idea of what users really want. Hopefully, they read the thread that was a nearly unanimous negative on the demise of the Mini, because it can't go away. __________________ 24" 2.4 GHz iMac (2007), MacBook (2009), iPhone 3GS 32 GB "Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende gar auch Menschen" - Heinrich Heine

May 25, 2007, 06:52 PM	#8
raggedjimmi macrumors 604 Join Date: Jan 2005	The perfect feel good news to hear after watching the perfect feel good film (Ferris Bueller ) __________________ www.bossbaddie.com

May 25, 2007, 06:52 PM	#10
Peel macrumors 6502 Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Seattle	Arn, So which rumors/forums did the good people at Apple look at whilst they were here at MacRumors? __________________ 24" Aluminum iMac 2.8GHz/4GB/500GB+1.5TB External HD MacBook Black C2D 2GB/160GB 8GB iPhone

May 25, 2007, 06:54 PM	#12
szark macrumors Demi-God Join Date: May 2002 Location: Arid-Zone-A	Well, it was confirmed some time ago (by the mods) that Apple employees occasionally browse the site. * waves to Apple employees * And, it's news because it proves there are actual functional units roaming around, and we can determine some (but not much) information from the browser string. __________________ ...let's climb those fences with signs that say...Don't...

May 25, 2007, 06:46 PM	#2
matthewHUB macrumors 6502 Join Date: Nov 2005	omfg. that rocks.

May 25, 2007, 06:46 PM	#3
Zwhaler macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jun 2006	Cool I hope they find and post in this thread

May 25, 2007, 06:49 PM	#6
psychofreak Retired Join Date: May 2006 Location: London	Its Steve, and he's lurking here to stalk ME...

May 25, 2007, 06:52 PM	#9
kainjow Demi-God (Moderator) Join Date: Jun 2000	Wow... someone used an iPhone to look at a website and it's news

May 25, 2007, 06:53 PM	#11
Vidd macrumors 6502a Join Date: Mar 2006	How cool. I wonder how it looks!

May 25, 2007, 06:57 PM	#14
512ke macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2003	I bet Apple Employees also want to know what the rumors are. They probably don't know everything that's behind closed doors at Apple either. As for the testing... good. Let's hope they're testing the iPhone browser 24/7... to make sure it works on as many sites as possible.

May 25, 2007, 06:59 PM	#17
iPodAddict macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2005	I believe it. Apple most certainly has people testing the iPhone as we speak.

May 25, 2007, 07:01 PM	#19
eenu Banned Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Manchester, UK	I can confirm the same from my logs

May 25, 2007, 07:02 PM	#21
LostPacket macrumors member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canada, eh	They were probably checking to see if the iPhone was still shipping at the end of June.

May 25, 2007, 07:04 PM	#22
puckhead193 macrumors 601 Join Date: May 2004 Location: NY	i would love to see a screen shot of the iphone on MR. __________________ 20" iMac C2D - 2.33GHz, 3 GB ram, ATI X1600 256 MB VRAM 15" pb 1.5 GHZ Rev. C 30 gig ipod 3rd gen, 60 gig 5g ipod ~ white, silver 2GB nano, 64 gig iPod Touch

May 25, 2007, 07:07 PM	#24
flopticalcube macrumors 601 Join Date: Sep 2006	I wonder if it makes phone calls too? __________________

May 25, 2007, 07:09 PM	#25
skinnylegs macrumors 6502a Join Date: May 2006 Location: San Diego	I'm guessing it's fully functional seeing as launch date appears be less than 30 days away. I've seen the videos a bazillion times but I am really looking forward to seeing firsthand how internet browsing on the iPhone pans out.

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