The tech reporter who is a nightmare for Apple

Philip Elmer-Dewitt of Fortune profiles 9to5Mac reporter Mark Gurman, who is known for breaking news about Apple despite the fact that he’s a 21-year-old college student.

Elmer-Dewitt writes, “There’s no magic to it. Gurman has good sources in both the developer community and within Apple, and he works them relentlessly. I confess that I was skeptical in January when he reported on 9to5Mac that four ports would be replaced with one in Apple’s next MacBook. I should have known.

“But it’s at WWDC that Gurman’s shoe-leather reporting shines brightest, and he’s worked this year’s event harder than ever. If you want to know what’s coming Monday — or at least what’s expected — you might as well start with the round-up Gurman published Friday. It’s the post everybody else is linking to, including Wall Street analysts.

“I caught up to Gurman on Saturday at his parents’ home in Los Angeles where, lacking an invitation from Apple, he will watch Monday’s keynote remotely. He’s got one more year in Michigan, where he’s taking a lot of technical courses — software design, server structure, data analysis — at the School of Information. To carve out more time for coursework he cut back this year on day-to-day rumors to focus on the big scoops. After graduation he’s thinking about business school — he likes Stanford — and relocation to San Francisco or New York.”

Read more here.