Apple delays Leopard release until October

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Apple Inc. on Thursday conceded that it will be unable to release its next generation operating system in June as previously planned and now says it anticipates launching the software in October.



In a statement released after the close of the stock market, Apple said its highly anticipated iPhone handset has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned.



"We can't wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is," Apple said. "However, iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price -- we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned."



While Leopard's features will be complete by June, the Cupertino-based company said it cannot deliver the quality release expected by its customers within that time. Apple now plans to show its developers a near final version of Leopard at the conference, give them a beta copy to take home so they can do their final testing, and ship the software in October.



"We think it will be well worth the wait," the company added. "Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we're sure we've made the right ones."



The move by Apple to delay its next-generation operating system roll-out confirms suspicions first raised by AppleInsider in an early March, when we reported that the number of pending issues with the software was unusual for an Apple product nearing its release deadline. (A large portion of the report was removed from AppleInsider at the demand of Apple Legal.)



In releasing the latest developmental build of Leopard this week, Apple was seemingly unable to chip away at the majority of the critical issues affecting the software. In fact, the number of issues appeared to have swelled from the build released in early March.



Rumors that Apple would be forced to delay the release of Leopard first gained some attention in late March when Taiwanese rumor site DigiTimes reported that the company would push the release out to October. The report, however, was largely discounted when Apple issued a statement to one analyst vehemently denying any such delay.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 504
    marcukmarcuk Posts: 4,442member
    given how many tens/hundreds of millions of $ Apple will lose through lost sales because of a 6 month wait, you wonder why they just dont hire a few more people to complete the damn thing already!
  • Reply 2 of 504
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Ho...ly...CRAP!!!!
  • Reply 3 of 504
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Good thing they released that info after the markets closed.



    There's gonna be some sellin' tomorrow.
  • Reply 4 of 504
    mr omr o Posts: 1,046member
    We should offer our apologies to this other rumour site
  • Reply 5 of 504
    So I guess those 3 dozen bugs wasn't so easy to fix after all.
  • Reply 6 of 504
    saikosaiko Posts: 46member
    Holy crap. :O





    (1st page)
  • Reply 7 of 504
    josa92josa92 Posts: 193member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Saiko View Post


    Holy crap. :O





    (1st page)





    I must agree. Wow. I wasn't anticipating June, but this is final I suppose.
  • Reply 8 of 504
    ghstmarsghstmars Posts: 140member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mr O View Post


    We should offer our apologies to this other rumour site



    which site was that again? i can't remember
  • Reply 9 of 504
    tinktink Posts: 395member
    nuf said



































    !
  • Reply 10 of 504
    japplejapple Posts: 91member
    In other news, poor thinksecret's sources say that the release is targetted for june 11.
  • Reply 11 of 504
    So I guess there wasn't a secret internal build that was ready to go.

    At least we should know by WWDC what the super secret features are.

    I hope Apple will start offering FREE Leopard upgrade coupons with all new Macs sold after WWDC.

    At least the iPhone will be on time.

    Tomorrow will be a good buying opportunity if the stock dips.
  • Reply 12 of 504
    porchlandporchland Posts: 478member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by josa92 View Post


    I must agree. Wow. I wasn't anticipating June, but this is final I suppose.



    Maybe... Steve will be cracking the whip the next two months, by June Apple will miraculously be ahead of schedule, and Apple will announce an earlier ship date at WWDC. Four months sounds like a long delay to project on the front end, but I'm sure they wanted to give me markets something more definite than "it ain't ready yet."



    What does this mean for iLife? Skip a year and bring out iLife '08 with Leopard in October? (Suits me.)



    Will we get a Apple TV/HD/Beatles event in May? At WWDC?
  • Reply 13 of 504
    ghstmarsghstmars Posts: 140member
    i got it, but could it be true for vista compatibility ?



    http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20070322PD214.html
  • Reply 14 of 504
    moochmooch Posts: 113member
    wow, I guess digitimes was right after all! or at least right about the delay.



    edit: ghstmars got it first! oh, well
  • Reply 15 of 504
    I am an investor as well as a very long time user and I consider this very good news indeed. High quality releases are much better than fast releases. Look at tomorrow as a buying opportunity for longs and pity the sellers their loss on where AAPL is headed.



    The Apple that is talking to us, Atv, iPhone and yes a Leopard delay is a communicating Apple. Get the bad news out as fast as you can is a very good play.
  • Reply 16 of 504
    this is bittersweet.



    leopard getting delayed is *not* a good thing, especially as it makes them look like microsoft, and also because it means they're shifting their priorities to the iphone, which i predict will fall on it's ass.



    however, i have an ADC membership and recently installed the leopard beta. it sucks balls. it's buggy as hell, and there are absolutely no features to justify the price tag (assuming they continue to go with $129). spaces is nice, ichat is nice, time machine is nice.. but i don't think i'm gonna actually use them that often. hopefully this delay will give them time to include something worth selling.



    one more thing-- why is AI the only big mac news site to report this yet? why hasn't TMO or MW gotten word?
  • Reply 17 of 504
    OMG I'm about to hang myself... ok not really but I PLANNED to upgrade my 15" powerbook in late June/July. Now what the hell am I supposed to do? I have to wait till November to upgrade my now defunct and soon to be even more defunct G4. AREWBANLDFGJSDFK:JAS. SO effing mad right now I could rip my hair out. Apple has never disappointed me the 5 years I've been with them until now.... such a sad day indeed this is.
  • Reply 18 of 504
    superbasssuperbass Posts: 688member
    Wow, first announcements of products way before release, then delayed (and crappy) ATv and now this. Apple seems to be slipping a bit. Let's hope iPhone isn't overpriced crap...
  • Reply 19 of 504
    slackulaslackula Posts: 262member
    Okay....I'm officially despondent now....
  • Reply 20 of 504
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mooch View Post


    wow, I guess digitimes was right after all! or at least right about the delay.



    edit: ghstmars got it first! oh, well



    Yeah, but that's not the reason.



    The iPhone isn't the reason either, though they are using it that way.



    They are just too far behind, as can be seen by the bugs in the various developer releases.
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