Bare Feats (And Others) Barred From Testing At Apple Stores

< A href="http://www.barefeats.com/">Bare Feats has been first to publish benchmarks for new Apple hardware for many years. For those wondering how the site got all that hardware, the secret is out: Robert Morgan, the siteis editor was doing his testing at local Mac Stores, including CompUSA and, most recently, his local Apple Store. According to an article at Wired News that all (perhaps coincidentally) came to a halt right after Bare Feats published a set of benchmarks for the new iMac G5 that contradicted Appleis own stated benchmarks. From

According to Morgan, a couple of days after publishing his results, he was contacted by Apple. Over the next few days, Morgan discussed the results with a couple of people from Apple, including the companyis PR department. In prior years, company representatives generally havenit responded when heis notified them of his test results, Morgan said.

And then last week, he received an e-mail from the local Apple Store containing the line, "I have some bad news." The note said the store would no longer be available for equipment testing.

Morgan said the ban came from Apple HQ in a "policy memo."

Apple confirmed that Morgan is no longer allowed to test store machines, but strongly denied the ban is related to Morganis iMac G5 test results. Rather, the stores arenit appropriate venues for conducting performance tests, said Natalie Kerris, Appleis director of products and technology PR.

"Our retail stores are for customers to try before they buy," she said. "They are not test labs."

There is much more information in the full story, including a lot more background information. The article also says that Apple may be giving Mr. Morgan test equipment in the future