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iPhone Used to Browse MacRumors.com?

macrumors.com — It looks like someone at Apple has started more extensively 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. After this tip, we were able to confirm similar findings in our own logs.

Who dugg this? Made popular May 25, 2007

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  • turpenine, on 10/11/2007, -9/+98*iPhone*
  • BZKyle, on 10/11/2007, -12/+92Wait... Why did I digg this?

  • fkr3, on 10/11/2007, -7/+83Is anyone else tempted to change their useragent string to something like ...
    Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone DECMODEL; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A538a Safari/419.3

    or maybe
    Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone 80GB; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A538a Safari/419.3

    or, just in case engadget decide to write their own content again (who whould have thought the first time they wrote instead of regurgitated it'd have that much effect)
    Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone DELAYED_TILL_JANUARY; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A538a Safari/419.3
  • Sagags, on 10/11/2007, -2/+60why would there be dice?

    they are looking for the iPhone
  • a3r0, on 10/11/2007, -7/+59And we all know how user agents can never, ever be changed...
  • mbiesz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+39This is interesting: a couple hits come up on Google when searching for "CPU like Mac OS X". Both are from logs, and contain hits from the same IP address, apparently originating in Mountain View: 24.7.124.164 -- accessing port 80 redirects to a proxy server at kilzer.net, run by a fellow named David Kilzer. He seems to be a prominent MkLinux developer, as well as a *drumroll* WebKit contributor (ddkilzer).
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -11/+44im sure i am not the only digger who ran to check their site's stats. no iphone lovin for me : /
  • BenBenMan, on 10/11/2007, -4/+35Oh my god ... a phone? On ... THE INTERNETS?!?!
  • Bob042, on 10/11/2007, -2/+31It was Jobs. We all know he has one, and he went to laugh at the rumors.
  • The_Larch, on 10/11/2007, -4/+31I thought Apple employees were banned from ever visiting any Mac rumor sites.
    Maybe an urban (geek) legend....
  • abcdefghij, on 10/11/2007, -4/+30PS3 Used to Browse ps3underground.com
    iPod Used to Browse ilounge.com
    Fried Chicken Used to Browse KFC.com
    Assole Used to Browse goatse.cx

    two words: guerrila marketing
  • Radan, on 10/11/2007, -6/+31@ turpenine:

    I have no idea why, but without knowing it I instantly digged you up.
  • kidd3ckz, on 10/11/2007, -1/+24Holy *****. Today's Friday?
  • Ireland, on 10/11/2007, -4/+26"While browser identification strings can be easily spoofed, these requests originated from Apple's internal IP addresses."

    Like when that email came directly from Apple recently right?
  • rompom7, on 10/11/2007, -11/+32Whoa.. wait.. why are people surprised? We all know that the iPhone has a browser. It would be stupid to think they don't test it / play around with it occasionally.

    "The reality of an iPhone in our hands, at least mine, is becoming a reality!! These stories may seem silly to most, but the make me more anxious!!"

    What the *****. It's a phone. Stop being such a consumerist whore. People should get anxious about public speaking, winning a competition, making a tough decision, etc... not over a phone with a touch screen. If your life is so messed up the only thing you do is work and wait for new products to be released.. then you should probably off yourself now.

    It's the red one ------------>
  • chaosium, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16I think there's a huge difference between browsing and posting on.
  • rohanch, on 10/11/2007, -5/+21FTA: "While browser identification strings can be easily spoofed, these requests originated from Apple's internal IP addresses."

    Browser identification can be faked, IP addresses can't. Although there's nothing to say it couldn't be Apple employees messing around...
  • gothicx00, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15Yes, colin. There really is a user agent spoofer. Unfortunately there isn't a Santa Clause.

    But in all reality, yes, and it's fairly easy. There are plugins for browsers, especially Firefox, that allow you to spoof your user agent. What would one use such a thing for? Well for legitimate purposes, sites that block access to content because they believe said content isn't compatible with your browser for one. Worked great on Yahoo! Music for the longest time. As for the more rogue purposes, back when T-Mobile was giving out 3 free months of Wi-Fi access from their site for using Windows Vista, people were spoofing like crazy. All the site did was check your user agent info and create an If-Then-Else statement out of it. If user agent data matches IE7 on Windows Vista then allow access to registration page. Else, redirect to a page that tells the poor saps to go buy Windows Vista.

    But, again, in all honesty why would anyone want to spoof that they were using an iPhone? Although I do find it interesting that "iPhone" is actually listed in the User Agent info instaid of nearly the same thing as if you were accessing via a mac. The only reason it makes sense is the two following reasons: 1, Although the iPhone has showed it's prowness in browsing just about any site, I'm sure there are still some page elements that might cause the iPhone to choke. Putting the iPhone moniker in the user agent string allows website authors to omit or substitute various page elements. 2, There maybe a use such as iPhone only or iPhone enhanced content, and a quick and dirty way to filter is to use the User Agent string.

    That is really the true purpose most of the time of User Agent data. The average person doesn't know how to change it, and it allows website authors to "corral" users to specific or tailored content.
  • dj2ndnature, on 10/11/2007, -24/+39The reality of an iPhone in our hands, at least mine, is becoming a reality!! These stories may seem silly to most, but the make me more anxious!!
  • MikeOSX, on 10/11/2007, -2/+16You would think they'd have used it to check out engadget. They must be curious to see if they are about to lose billions at any second.
  • stalefries, on 10/11/2007, -2/+16They said that in the article too, but pointed out that the IP was an Apple internal IP, and that they (MacRumors) also have similar log entries.

    Also, what profit is there in pretending that an iPhone hit your site, and telling a rumors site about it, if you don't get any traffic to your own site?
  • flxfxp, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Must be a slow friday
  • JasonCox, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10Just checked both my websites, no hits from an iPhone or even a Mac on either. But one site had 6 hits from 'old style ARPA net', wtf.
  • colincornaby, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11Can't anyone change their browser identification string?
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8@rompom7

    I clicked the green one *****
  • stoops, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9@Tourney3p0

    You are correct but you cannot fake a real TCP session with a website. You can send spoofed packets out on the Internet with RAW sockets but you cannot maintain a connection after wards. So it all depends if the server logs are the actual TCP connections or just any incoming packet on their Internet connection.
  • ricksite, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8zdiggler, iPhone also has WiFi.
  • tb0n3r, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7@mbiesz:
    24.7.124.164 is a Comcast address in the "BAY AREA".
    17.0.0.0/8 is Apple's Class A Network.

    Apple employees taking stuff home?
  • ungus, on 10/11/2007, -7/+13I'll be more excited when they come out with an iPhone shuffle. Just push the shuffle button and it dials a random number in your contacts list.

    The sad part is, I have some friends that talk so much that wouldn't bother them at all.
  • DelMonte, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9Cheap marketing like your avatar being the Vista logo?

    Or maybe mine, being the Delmonte logo? Hmmmm delicious canned fruits!

    And do you realize that guys like you only add to the iPhone hype by trolling around comments on iPhone stories?
  • SilentSpyder, on 10/11/2007, -10/+16I'm waiting for the iphone nano.
  • itsme92, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7But it does have wi-fi
  • Vidd, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Apple can't stop employees from visiting rumour sites, really. Macrumors knows that at least a few Apple workers browse it.
    Both Apple employees and retail workers are discouraged from *posting* on such sites.
  • slapthemonkey, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6As for the testing, its good if they test the iPhone browser 24/7... to make sure it works on as many sites as possible.
  • Tourney3p0, on 10/11/2007, -3/+8@rohanch:

    Of course IP addresses can be faked. Raw sockets natively support this.
  • Eugenia, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7It is legitimate, check here:
    http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:HTS9ot4KQQsJ:www.geobytes.com/WhoIsOnNow.htm%3FWhoIsOnNow%26buttonid%3D16208%26cid%3D59970%26c%3D4e71c3e3/+%22CPU+like+Mac+OS+X%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=firefox-a
    Another guy who used a device with the same user agent was from MOUNTAIN VIEW, which is just a few Khm away from Apple! It seems that indeed that user agent is real.
  • fuzzmeister, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5That's 5 hour talk/video/browsing, which is not bad at all. Its audio playback time is 16 hours, and in all likelihood the standby time is a few days.
  • mmmooo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Checked a couple access logs from work, found a couple user agents, (1AXXX changes) eg:

    "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; PPC like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A001a Safari/419.3"

    All from apple ips (17.202.20.xxx, 17.255.98.xxx, etc)...

    Looks like at least has limited javascript support, as its also pulling js content.
  • meatmcguffin, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3And Kevin Rose knows more about the iPhone than Steve Jobs?
  • wildjohn, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5OOOOHHH!!! Someone plugged their Iphone into an outlet. I have the voltage spike pattern print outs from my house in sunnyvale!! ooooH!
  • guerchmann, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5Folks, folks... It isn't that difficult to change an user-agent string - some browsers even have a special feature for this. How can you be sure it's really an iPhone or not someone just faking it?

  • Cerpin_Taxt, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3I'm so sick of all this iPhone coverage... How many people can afford a 500 dollar phone? I want more OS 10.5 news!
  • Boondoggle, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2"How many people can afford a 500 dollar phone?"
    ----------------------
    Lots of people.
  • zapod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2AFAIK it was Kent Brockman from The Simpsons, welcoming robot overlords. Can't remember the episode. Digg me down if I'm wrong.
  • labyrinth37, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2iphone shmyphone...where's my new IPOD!!!!!
  • zapod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Ok, a simple IMDB search reveals the quote to be from Empire of the Ants, uttered by Joan Collins character Marilyn Fryser: "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords". But I'm almost sure I can hear Kent Brockman say it too, in a Simpsons pop-culture kind of way.
  • TRENT310, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Yeah, the IP address is from Apple, but Apple has other computers, obviously, and those could have been used in conjunction with a user-agent spoofing tool.

    MacRumors didn't find it themselves, either. They wouldn't have known before someone tipped them off about it, which might have been aware of the prank.
  • Paradrenasite, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Could also be fake, but it seems someone else with an iPhone may have been browsing Last.fm, as well...

    http://flickr.com/photos/dekstop/493979925/

    (photo from Last.fm staff members flickr account)
  • zapod, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I, for one, welcome our new iPhone overlords.
  • Yoshi39, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1How do you know it was from arpa?
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