Apple delays Mac OS X Leopard until October 2007, blames iPhone

Apple StoreApple today released the following statement:

iPhone 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. 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 then, we cannot deliver the quality release that we and our customers expect from us. We now plan to show our 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 Leopard in October. We think it will be well worth the wait. Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we’re sure we’ve made the right ones.

Sources: PRNewswire, Apple Hot News
Ouch.

Still, better fully-baked in October, than undercooked in June.

Good thing Mac OS X Tiger is already the world’s most advanced operating system.

(Note: Big party scheduled for the weekly Dvorak-Enderle-Thurrott-Kantor coffee klatch! Stay tuned for ridiculous articles trying to equate Apple’s 4-month delay to Microsoft’s over 4-year long Windows Longhorn/Vista/PigLipstick debacle.)

Related articles:
Ihnatko: Hands-on with Apple’s iPhone (which runs Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard) – January 18, 2007

Latest Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard build still accompanied by lengthy bug list – April 12, 2007
RUMOR: Apple to release Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard in June – April 02, 2007
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard to feature ZFS? – March 29, 2007
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard’s top secret ingredient: 3D everywhere, including new 3D Finder? – March 27, 2007
Apple to delay Leopard? Digitimes.com’s poor Apple rumor accuracy – March 23, 2007
Apple to postpone Mac OS X Leopard until October in order to support Windows Vista? – March 23, 2007
RUMOR: Some Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard ‘top secret’ features leak out – January 26, 2007
RUMOR: Apple Mac OS X Leopard to replace ‘Aqua’ with ‘Illuminous’ – December 11, 2006
Apple confirms ‘resolution independence’ and more coming in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard – October 23, 2006

370 Comments

  1. This sucks.

    I don’t need no ‘stinkin iPhone – what I need is a big, powerful Mac than can run PS3 and my 44 inch-wide printers.

    I am reminded that this is NO LONGER Apple computer – it’s an entertainment company.

    We need balance between gadgets and real computers here. And, October is tooooo late.

  2. Look. I’m looking forward to 10.5 ocelot or whatever its called… But let me tell you, ill take stablen functional, and working.

    Why? I installed Vista for compat testing, and its so bad, its hard to fathom.

    If apple was to release something as bad, it wouldn’t do apple – or you or me – a damn bit of good.

    10.4.9 is rock-hard stable and 10.5 will be here in October…. Apple could be in a way worse position.

  3. How about the links to MDN’s poo-pooing of suggestions that Lepoard wouldn’t be happening spring at all. i am sure there were a few!!

    Oh the endless debate of when spring is, was, or will be. FYI fall runs from Sept 21 to Dec 21 approx.

  4. Two and a half years…it must now have “must have” revolutionary features in order to get my purchase.
    I also will HAVE to have a peek at the secret features in June for them to get my money in October. I am disappointed, to say little, as the time it has taken compared to previous releases is way to long. I am hoping for the iPhones success, but should its success affect and determine my operating system? Absolutely not!
    The computer hardware should come first and the OS second, and consumer electronics third. Depressing!

  5. Listen, as long as Apple isn’t FOUR years late with a bloated, non-working OS, I’m not complaining. Tiger still serves me quite well. I’ll wait.

    MW: Rest, as in: Rest assured, Leopard will be here and it will once again leave MS in the dust (not that Tiger doesn’t already).

  6. So much for iLife 07′. Might as well make it 2008.

    If true, that was a really Microsoft thing to do. Lots of crow to be eaten by those who blasted MS for being late. Don’t care about a phone, do care about computers.

  7. I am sick of IT companies delaying operating systems!!!!!!!! I guess Apple is no different from microsoft. I think i will give Microsoft Vista a chance after all, they may be evil, but at least thier operating system is on the market and current. I HATE THE IPHONE!!!!!!!!! Only an fool would buy it. Thank You Apple for Making my day worse!!!!!!!

  8. Here come the mac heads making excuses for Aplle. . .
    I can hear them now: ” at least it’s not 4 years”
    “at least they didn’t cut anything” (at least that you know of)
    “at least

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