Editor Alan Stonebridge Company Future US | Frequency monthly Country United States | |
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Categories Macintosh and iOS computing First issue September 1996 (as MacAddict)
February 2007 (as MacLife) | ||
MacLife (stylized as Mac|Life) is an American monthly magazine published by Future US. It focuses on the Macintosh personal computer and related products, including the iPad and iPhone. It’s sold as a print product on newsstands, and an interactive and animated app edition through the App Store.
Contents
Between September 1996 and February 2007, the magazine was known as MacAddict (ISSN 1088-548X). In Germany, a magazine of the same name but with no association is published by Falkemedia from Kiel (ISSN 1860-9988).
History
MacLife is one of two successor magazines to the defunct CD-ROM Today. First published in 1993 by Imagine Publishing (now Future US), CD-ROM Today was targeted at both Windows and Macintosh users, and each issue shipped with a CD-ROM of shareware and demo programs. In August 1996, CD-ROM Today ceased publication, with two magazines taking its place: MacAddict for Macintosh users, and boot (now Maximum PC) for Windows users.
As was the case with CD-ROM Today, MacAddict's discs included shareware and demo programs, but also came with other added features, such as staff videos and previews of content inside the magazine's hard copy. The MacAddict website was updated daily with news relevant to Apple products. MacAddict also had a mascot, a stick-figure named Max. By 1998, MacAddict surpassed Macworld as the Macintosh magazine with the highest consumer newsstand spending due to its $7.99 cover price.
In February 2007, MacAddict was relaunched as MacLife. The new magazine is physically larger than the old magazine and was focused on the creativity of Mac users, and no longer comes with a CD-ROM.
Reviewing system
From 1996 to mid-2002, there were four rating icons, which depicted Max. There was "Blech" (the lowest), "Yeah, Whatever" (a mediocre product), "Spiffy" (a solid yet not perfect product), and "Freakin' Awesome" (the highest). From 2002 to 2009, it was replaced by a more conventional five-point system. Then, in 2010, MacLife created a 10-point system that included half stars.