Apple OS X Lion pulled as Mountain Lion rolls out

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Apple on Wednesday pulled its last-generation OS X Lion from both the Mac App Store and brick-and-mortar Apple Stores amid the launch of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS.

As OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion rolled out today following Apple CEO Tim Cook's impromptu launch announcement during Tuesday's third quarter conference call, the company took down all mentiion of the last-generation operating system from its digital storefront while simultaneously removing OS X Lion USB thumb drives from physical stores, reports CNET.

Users attempting to find Lion on the Mac App Store are met with a "product not available" message while those who purchased the last-generation operating system can no longer re-download the software via the previous purchases section.

Mac App Store
Apple's Mac App Store no longer lists OS X Lion as an available product. | Source: Apple


The publication notes that Apple has traditionally pulled older versions of its Mac OS when a new iteration is released, but in the case of Lion it could cause problems for users who want to upgrade to a newer operating system but have hardware that is incompatible with Mountain Lion. While such owners, limited to certain Mac models made between 2006 and 2008, have had a year to upgrade to Lion, feet-draggers may be out of luck unless they buy the OS through a reseller.

Apple has yet to issue an official statement regarding the matter.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 86


    Lion still shows as re-downloadable for me.  I just had to log into my account and Un-hide it in the hidden purchases area.

     

  • Reply 2 of 86


    Still able to download with a developer account from previously purchased list.

  • Reply 3 of 86


    The Lion installer was still in my purchases list, and I'm re-downloading it now. This Mac is still on 10.7, maybe that makes a difference?

  • Reply 4 of 86
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    1) It makes sense to pull it from the store but keep it on the servers for those that have already purchased it, like they do with their App Store apps.

    2) I'm guessing that despite the complaints of not having physical media for Lion which prompted the USB flash drive I'm guessing a very, very, very small number of people actually bought them.
  • Reply 5 of 86
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member




    As OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion rolled out today following Apple CEO Tim Cook's impromptu launchannouncement during Tuesday's third quarter conference call, the company took down all mentiion of the last-generation operating system from its digital storefront while simultaneously removing OS X Lion USB thumb drives from physical stores, reports CNET.


     



    Thats bull shit.  There are plenty of Macs out there that need Lion that are not compatible with 10.8.  So what are we supposed to do?  Torrent Lion so we can get a so called pirated copy?  Apple needs to keep Lion available for all the legacy macs.

  • Reply 6 of 86
    ebisuebisu Posts: 1member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post


    Thats bull shit.  There are plenty of Macs out there that need Lion that are not compatible with 10.8.  So what are we supposed to do?  Torrent Lion so we can get a so called pirated copy?  Apple needs to keep Lion available for all the legacy macs.



     


    What are the compatibility differences between Lion and Mountain Lion? Even Lion wasn't compatible with my 2006 MacBook.

  • Reply 7 of 86
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    tylerk36 wrote: »
    Thats bull shit.  There are plenty of Macs out there that need Lion that are not compatible with 10.8.  So what are we supposed to do?  Torrent Lion so we can get a so called pirated copy?  Apple needs to keep Lion available for all the legacy macs.

    You post that as if current Macs will stop working all of a sudden.
  • Reply 8 of 86
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JElmore49 View Post


    The Lion installer was still in my purchases list, and I'm re-downloading it now. This Mac is still on 10.7, maybe that makes a difference?



    If I boot ML, I can only see ML in my Purchases.


    If I boot Lion, I can only see Lion in my Purchases.

  • Reply 9 of 86
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post


    Thats bull shit.  There are plenty of Macs out there that need Lion that are not compatible with 10.8.  So what are we supposed to do?



    Just download it again in the App store as one of your purchases.


    But don't expect to purchase it.

  • Reply 10 of 86
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ebisu View Post


     


    What are the compatibility differences between Lion and Mountain Lion? Even Lion wasn't compatible with my 2006 MacBook.



    Yes but my 2007 MacPro 8 core won't run Mountain Lion.  The newest OS that it will only run is Lion.  I have the Golden Mater Dev Pre of Lion.  If I lose that and need to reinstall Lion I will have to find it on a torrent instead of legally purchasing it through Apple.  Also if some one brings me a MAc that is not compatible with 10.8 but is with 10.7 What the hell are we supposed to do.  Torrent again?  Really is this a way to get people to purchase new macs?  Not fair.  Apple you need to make Lion available for all the legacy macs.  Put it back.

  • Reply 11 of 86
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    You post that as if current Macs will stop working all of a sudden.


    No I don't.  And NO macs will not stop working all of a sudden.  You obviously don't get it but hey thats ok allot of others do.  I simply am saying that there are a huge amount of macs that need Lion.  But yet can't run mountain lion.  They need Lion in the future in case of accidental erasure or hard drive failure.

  • Reply 12 of 86

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Chris_CA View Post


    If I boot ML, I can only see ML in my Purchases.


    If I boot Lion, I can only see Lion in my Purchases.



     




    OK, my download was most of the way done, then the App Store said the download could not be completed because an error occurred. My guess is, it took a while for it to disappear from all of the local mirrors.


     


    I'm sorry, but that's total BS. I have a perfectly good Mac pro sitting here that can never go to 10.8. Hopefully the Recovery Partition will still let me grab the installer? I hope a have a copy zipped up somewhere. I wonder if my 2012 Mac Mini can get the installer since it came with Lion preloaded?

  • Reply 13 of 86

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Chris_CA View Post


    If I boot ML, I can only see ML in my Purchases.


    If I boot Lion, I can only see Lion in my Purchases.



     


    Lion shows up in my Purchases on my system running Lion as well as another system running Mountain Lion.

  • Reply 14 of 86
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post


    Yes but my 2007 MacPro 8 core won't run Mountain Lion.  The newest OS that it will only run is Lion.  I have the Golden Mater Dev Pre of Lion.  If I lose that and need to reinstall Lion I will have to find it on a torrent instead of legally purchasing it through Apple.  Also if some one brings me a MAc that is not compatible with 10.8 but is with 10.7 What the hell are we supposed to do.  Torrent again?  Really is this a way to get people to purchase new macs?  Not fair.  Apple you need to make Lion available for all the legacy macs.  Put it back.



     


    Why is this unfair?


     


    Why didn't you purchase Lion when you had the opportunity?


     


    If you lose you hard copy of the Lion GM, then . . .  OH WELL. 


     


    Now that Apple has the Mac App Store, do you feel entitled to be *less* responsible about taking care of your stuff and not losing anything?


     


     


     


     




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post


     Also if some one brings me a MAc that is not compatible with 10.8 but is with 10.7 What the hell are we supposed to do.  Torrent again?  



     


    What do you mean? Tell *them* to provide you with the OS X install discs the Mac came with. 


     


    And if it'll only run a legacy Mac OS, your only option is to go outside regular Apple channels anyway. 

  • Reply 15 of 86


    I have old Mac Pros that now run SL, and can only run Lion max., not ML. Guess I'd be a kriminal now if I'd ever get Lion for the Pros in any way?

  • Reply 16 of 86
    vandilvandil Posts: 187member


    Honestly, any machine incapable of running Mountain Lion is probably better off with Snow Leopard.  Snow Leopard was one mean, lean version of Mac OS X, and the last vestige of PowerPC app access.  


     


    Lion changed a lot of things and people just had to slug through it and learn.  Hopefully Mountain Lion will ease some of Lion's pain the way Snow Leopard did for Leopard, but if you can't run Mountain Lion and haven't upgraded to Lion yet, I say stay on Snow Leopard and enjoy yourself.  You even get iCloud.

  • Reply 17 of 86
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Yes but unfortunately Snow Leopard is incompatible with iCloud.
  • Reply 18 of 86
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


     


    Why is this unfair?


     


    Why didn't you purchase Lion when you had the opportunity?


     


    If you lose you hard copy of the Lion GM, then . . .  OH WELL. 


     


    Now that Apple has the Mac App Store, do you feel entitled to be *less* responsible about taking care of your stuff and not losing anything?


     


     


     


     




     


    What do you mean? Tell *them* to provide you with the OS X install discs the Mac came with. 


     


    And if it'll only run a legacy Mac OS, your only option is to go outside regular Apple channels anyway. 



    Ok I will help you understand.  The Lion os was installed at the factory.  When it was installed it made two partitions.  One was a recovery partition and the other was the actual OS.  Now lets say the hard drive takes a dump and all is lost.  Where is the install disc.  There isn't one is there?  Also lets say a person buys Lion and upgrades a non Mountain Lion os compatible mac from Snow Leopard to Lion.  Now lets say they bought the upgrade through the App store.  Lets say the hard drive takes a dump.  Wow where is the installer then.  You cant buy it you cant get it any where unless you torrent the OS installer or have some sort of disc of it that you created.  But wait.  Lets say you install Snow Leo and then run the installer (Lion) from that disc.  Then it checks the App store and your account and says its no longer supported.  Hmm your screwed huh?  If you cant understand this explanation then I have a twenty page version for you.

  • Reply 19 of 86
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    tylerk36 wrote: »
    No I don't.  And NO macs will not stop working all of a sudden.  You obviously don't get it but hey thats ok allot of others do.  I simply am saying that there are a huge amount of macs that need Lion.  But yet can't run mountain lion.  They need Lion in the future in case of accidental erasure or hard drive failure.

    To be clear, you're claiming that if a Mac that is running Lion but can't run ML gets a new HDD or has a drive wiped that it's impossible for the user to get Lion installed even though they've legally paid for it? Is that right?

    if so, then I'd like you to try something and you don't have to delete your Lion OS to do it. Download the 1MB Recovery HD installer and put in on a USB flash drive. Now boot into that drive, connect to your WiFI or ethernet. What I expect you'll see is an option to reinstall Lion, not a message asking you to use your CC to pay $20 so you can get ML or saying that you need to buy a new Mac.

    I'm not sure if you're being serious with your comments here but you are very off base to connect no longer being sold on the MAS as meaning that it'll no longer be available for those who've already purchased it.
  • Reply 20 of 86

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post


      Now lets say the hard drive takes a dump and all is lost.  Where is the install disc.  There isn't one is there?  


     



     


     


    Why not just burn one yourself, now?  Isn't there some built-in utility that allows you to do that?

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