Apple bug report hints developers may receive near-final build of OS X 10.9 at WWDC

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
A curious filing in Apple's bug reporting system includes a build number that suggests pre-release testing on OS X 10.9 has been much more extensive than with last year's OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

OS X


The details come from a Webkit bug report submitted through Apple's own Radar system, first noticed by AppleInsider reader Tom. The filing references an operating system build number of 13A451, with the first three characters suggesting the software is OS X 10.9, and the latest three digits referring to the internal build number.

Those last three digits ??"451" ? imply that Apple's number of private test builds of OS X 10.9 have achieved a relatively high amount for an upcoming operating system.

Builds


For example, the Golden Master, or final release build, of last year's OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion was declared after only 269 builds. And the Golden Master of 10.6 Snow Leopard, another "minor" OS X update, was build "432."

Meanwhile, "major" OS X releases saw higher build numbers. In 2007, OS X 10.5 Leopard reached "581" before it achieved GM status, while in 2011 the GM of OS X 10.7 was "511."The alleged OS X 10.9 build number suggests the number of test builds is high for a still-unannounced Mac operating system.

The possibility that OS X 10.9 may have already achieved build "451" as of May 8 ? more than a month before the operating system's anticipated unveiling at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference ? could forecast a range of possibilities:
  • The purported build number could indicate that the software is nearing a final release, even before it has been unveiled to third-party developers.
  • It would reveal that Apple has been at work ? and compiling more builds ? with OS X 10.9 than Mac OS X 10.8.
  • It could mean that one of the most critical components of OS X is seeing a major overhauled in 10.9, which would presumably explain the need to run through more builds than usual ahead of its announcement.
Traffic
Recent traffic from OS X 10.9 in AppleInsider's logs.


One developer who spoke with AppleInsider said the expectation among the development community is that OS X 10.9 will not be a major overhaul of the operating system. If that's the case, the fact that a pre-release build number appears far along could mean the next Mac operating system is relatively close to release.

It's possible that developers may receive a near-final copy of OS X 10.9 at next week's WWDC. That would mean a much shorter testing period than usual before the release of the Golden Master build.

For example, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion was unveiled on Feb. 16 of 2012 before an eventual release on July 25 of the same year. Developers were given more than five months to test their applications with the new operating system before it was released to the public on the Mac App Store.



Website traffic from machines running pre-release builds of OS X 10.9 could be seen significantly growing in presence as early as January of this year. That helped to fuel speculation that Apple could unveil the software around February on target for a summer launch, as it had done a year prior with Mountain Lion.

The last two major OS X releases became available to the public in late July, with OS X 10.7 Lion hitting the Mac App Store on July 20, 2011. In the event that Apple were to follow the same release schedule this year, developers would have less than a month and a half to test OS X 10.9 after a presumed beta were to become available at WWDC.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 74
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member


    Thanks to 16-core Hackintoshes at 1 Infinite Loop, Apple builds OS X faster and more often.

  • Reply 2 of 74
    If it's buggy it's better to not release anything to the public.. better safe than sorry Apple. Remember MAPS. Yeah so does everyone else.
  • Reply 3 of 74
    ghostface147ghostface147 Posts: 1,629member
    That would be a rather short time to test. Even more so since they've pulled devs off of OS X to work on iOS 7.
  • Reply 4 of 74
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    That's a remarkable build number. It makes no sense to build twice a day or even most weekends. So that's more than a years work overlapping with 10.8. I think iOS 7 might also have been co developed simultaneously with iOS 6.
  • Reply 5 of 74
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    asdasd wrote: »
    That's a remarkable build number. It makes no sense to build twice a day or even most weekends. So that's more than a years work overlapping with 10.8. I think iOS 7 might also have been co developed simultaneously with iOS 6.

    How about they have two teams: one for the foundation and the other for the UI and apps, each with different 8 hour shifts?¡
  • Reply 6 of 74
    dgnr8dgnr8 Posts: 196member
    I am so looking forward to OS X 10.9 and maybe the release of a new Mac Pro.

    However I don't think they will unveil or release a new MacPro until 10.9 is GM, no point if the OS is overhauled.
  • Reply 7 of 74
    emig647emig647 Posts: 2,455member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ghostface147 View Post



    That would be a rather short time to test. Even more so since they've pulled devs off of OS X to work on iOS 7.


     


    Keep in mind that was a rumor.


     


    It all depends what's being added / changed. If it's UI / finder revamp mostly, then it could have been well tested by Feb. 

  • Reply 8 of 74
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    You never know. Apple could start the build numbering from any arbitrary set of digits. 451 would be the second build if they happened to start at 450.
  • Reply 9 of 74
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    That would be a rather short time to test. Even more so since they've pulled devs off of OS X to work on iOS 7.

    That would be a rather short time to test. Perhaps even more so since, according to rumour, they've pulled devs off of OS X to work on iOS 7.

    there. fixed that for ya.
  • Reply 10 of 74
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ghostface147 View Post



    That would be a rather short time to test. Even more so since they've pulled devs off of OS X to work on iOS 7.


     


    Always amazing how unsubstantiated rumors become indisputable fact just by being repeated often enough. Could you please provide a link proving your assertion that OS X engineers have been pulled off to work on iOS 7? Hearsay and rumor mill reports don't count, of course.

  • Reply 11 of 74
    pedromartinspedromartins Posts: 1,333member


    This means nothing. Mountain Lion in 1000x better than Lion, but had fewer builds.


     


    Another way to look at it: Bugs, bugs everywhere. Take your time Apple, make it as stable as possible.

  • Reply 12 of 74
    gustavgustav Posts: 827member
    There's an awful lot of ignorant speculation going on here.
  • Reply 13 of 74
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    i heard a rumour that the name for this release is Fahrenheit. And that this is the final build.
  • Reply 14 of 74
    tailpipetailpipe Posts: 345member
    So what is OSX 10.9 going to be called? Cougar? Lynx? Bobcat? Margay? Serval? I guess there are still plenty of cats out there, so it shouldn't be a too difficult choice.

    But what will the OS that comes after 10.9 be called? Will it be 10.10 or will it be OSXI? Maybe it will become a single platform under iOS8?

  • Reply 15 of 74

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post



    That's a remarkable build number. It makes no sense to build twice a day or even most weekends.


    It only makes no sense if you've never used continuous integration and automated unit/regression testing after each commit.  On the other hand, this is quite a common thing to use for software groups that work on complex pieces of software, such as an OS, do.

  • Reply 16 of 74
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by DGNR8 View Post

    However I don't think they will unveil or release a new MacPro until 10.9 is GM, no point if the OS is overhauled.


     


    Of course they'd release it before the OS. They've always done that. The first aluminum iMacs ran Tiger, for heaven's sake. People were upset, but Leopard was a free upgrade.





    Originally Posted by Pooch View Post

    i heard a rumour that the name for this release is Fahrenheit. And that this is the final build.


     


    Ha! Nonsense. A final build given to devs? 

  • Reply 17 of 74
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gustav View Post



    There's an awful lot of ignorant speculation going on here.


    Um.... why don't you shed some light then? Or shut up?

  • Reply 18 of 74
    gcom006gcom006 Posts: 73member


    Ocelot. I would be endlessly amused.

  • Reply 19 of 74
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    I suspect that they aren't doing a huge amount of changes in Mac OS this year. Cleaning up stability and perhaps some visual tweaks. But most of it I suspect will be the apps not the OS. This could be why hey shifted a few folks over to iOS, they had nothing to do until the developers provided some real word feedback from some of the thousands of variant systems they can't possible assemble and test themselves. Since the two systems come off the same core why not shift them rather than let them earn a paycheck doing little to nothing. Especially when fresh eyes could find code bugs and stop another wifi bug like iOS 6 had
  • Reply 20 of 74
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Gustav View Post

    There's an awful lot of ignorant speculation going on here.


     


    Wonder which Apple fan site will take this as its tagline first… Because it works for all of us! image


     


    Or maybe we could have a bunch of them that cycle at the top of the page.


     


    AppleInsider: There's an awful lot of ignorant speculation going on here.


    AppleInsider: "I'm an Apple fan, but…"


    AppleInsider: New Mac Pros! Psyche.


    AppleInsider: Where the mother meets the board.

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