Disappointment over Apple’s 4-month delay of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, “while understandable, may be misplaced, according to tech industry analysts. ‘A delay in an operating system is not much to worry about,’ said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a high-tech consulting firm. ‘If they were a year late, I’d be concerned, but not a few months,'” Jim Dalrymple reports for Macworld.
“Rather, analysts were cheered by the news that the iPhone appears to be on track, and that Apple is committed to delivering that mobile device in June. A phone that also doubles as an iPod and an Internet communications device, the iPhone potentially reaches customers beyond Apple’s core base of Mac users. That, coupled with the fact that AT&T is involved with the iPhone as a service provider, makes it much more critical for Apple to meet the June ship date,” Dalrymple reports.
Dalrymple reports, “‘I think that one issue we may not be aware of are the contract terms between Apple and AT&T,’ said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at The NPD Group. ‘Apple may have committed to delivering the phone at a certain time creating a legal liability if they don’t deliver, which might explain the shifting of resources.'”
“The Leopard delay is the first significant delay in Apple’s operating systems since it replaced OS 9 in 2001. However, it is the second high-profile product delay in 2007 for Apple; the release of Apple TV slipped a few weeks from February to mid-March,” Dalrymple reports.
Dalrymple reports, “Still analysts remain convinced that getting the iPhone on the market makes more sense for the company than pouring its resources into the Leopard. ‘Apple has a lot of good things going on right now,’ Bajarin said.”
More in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Another Irish Dude” for the heads up.]
John Markoff reports for The New York Times, “‘This throws a little bit of water on their parade,’ said David Smith, an analyst who tracks operating systems at Gartner Inc., a market research firm. But he noted that large software projects were frequently late and said that the slip would not prove damaging to Apple over the long run.”
“In the past, Apple under Mr. Jobs’s leadership has executed several earlier technology transitions relatively flawlessly, including the introduction of the conversion of his Next operating system to Macintosh and the shift from Power PC to Intel microprocessors,” Markoff reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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Mac OS X Leopard will cost US$129.
If you are holding off to buy a Mac to save a measly $129, you can’t afford a real computer.
Otherwise, get your Mac now and buy and install Leopard in October.
I now return you to the overwrought rants from cheap and/or stupid idiots who don’t understand what the iPhone is or what it means to the future of the Mac platform.
And people wonder why Apple doesn’t like to pre-announce products.
Analyst expectations and fanboy whining are two good reasons.
Apple TV delayed a few weeks. Big friggin woop.
Any bets? iPhone released in late, late, late June 2007….but delivered in late July or later.
European deliver of the iPhone pushed back 6 months to a year.
Any bets? iPhone released in late, late, late June 2007….but delivered in late July or later.
European deliver of the iPhone pushed back 6 months to a year.
Any bets? iPhone released in late, late, late June 2007….but delivered in late July or later.
European deliver of the iPhone pushed back 6 months to a year.
Any bets? iPhone released in late, late, late June 2007….but delivered in late July or later.
European deliver of the iPhone pushed back 6 months to a year.
It’s concerning because it shows that resources weren’t allocated properly to begin with, or time was mismanaged, or there’s just not enough bodies to go around at Apple.
It’s really not a huge issue, but now we’ve had two delays on two highly touted products. It’s worth keeping an eye on.
@PlainTruth: “If you are holding off to buy a Mac to save a measly $129, you can’t afford a real computer. Otherwise, get your Mac now and buy and install Leopard in October.”
Hey, big talker, why don´t you buy us all a copy of Leopard in October? Just because your momma will pay for yours does not mean you need to be talking down people that have to watch their finances.
You could view it that OS X isn’t delayed in terms of their being a problem with it. More that the iPhone would have been delayed had they not reallocated OS X resources. Hopefully the iPhone is just because it’s amazing as opposed to there being a problem.
The slip makes Apple look a little foolish, only because just recently they said it was on schedule.
However, the real concern is if there are no “top secret” features in the end… Jobs will really look foolish then and Apple will take some knocks.
What the heck is over the M in MacDailyNews….look at it..!
tell us! I don’t get it!
Not to fret, the delay to October still allows Apple to deliver Leopard by Spring 2007 as promised.
If you’re in Australia.
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Anyone who thinks of US$129 as “finances” has much more pressing problems than a 4-month OS delay.
What are you, 8-years-old?
I spend more than $129 on 18-holes of weekday golf.
$129 is less than a good meal for two. $129 is like 1/6th of my monthly vehicle lease.
In short, $129 is pocket change. Meaningless. If I dropped it down the storm drain, I probably wouldn’t even notice it, much less care.
Wow, much angst over this. Everyone misses one once in a while.
So even analysts don’t give a shit about Leopard or think it will make any difference to Apple’s Mac business. Ship it, don’t ship it, who cares…
John Gee,
Look closely. That’s a black Leopard armband, of course.
Most switchers won’t care that Leopard is late. They will embrace the Mac as it is – it is so much better than the alternative…
And for the rest of us, Plain Truth is right, $129 is really not so important if we HAVE to have a new machine right now.
For those for whom $129 is a big deal, well be patient. If you have to scrimp and save (I do…) then you get used to having to save up for stuff. So save up a bit longer and buy some extra memory with your Leopard-equipped Mac when it is finally released…
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@SydneyStephen
Ain’t that the truth…
Maybe Apple shouldn’t have been feeding their big cat tainted pet food.
At least it didn’t suffer from MS’ mad cow, Longhorn.
Yup, whether it’s Tiger or Leopard, OS X is still a revelation to switchers!
I better not hear any twit use the word AppleSoft over this or I will smacl them.
BAM!
Owww…I had to hit myself.
When anal-ists try to turn the tables on bad news, it usually means it’s worst than it actually is.
You see folks, there is a little war going on between the hackers and AACS. The content protection scheme designed to protect high definition DVD’s.
How does that effect in this case?
Well BlueRay drives are soon to appear in Mac’s and Apple has a heavy investment in downloading content from the movie studios.
Get it?
That’s the real story, because the new Octo Mac Pro’s are shipping with no OEM BlueRay drive option. After all, all that CPU power is needed for the HD video content industry and no BD drive to save the huge files with? Weird.
OEM drives are the only one’s able to play BlueRay DVD movie content because of the tight intigration of hardware and AACS. Just like regular DVD movies on a Mac are.
So the REAL delay is because of AACS always being cracked. If it cannot be made secure, then there might be a slim chance in hell that OEM BD-DVD’s will play on a Mac.
Steve Jobs will not be pleased. Content is EVERYTHING.
edit: “OEM drives will be the only one’s able to play BlueRay DVD movie content on a Mac because of the tight integration of hardware, OS and AACS. Just like regular DVD movies on a Mac are.”
Where did you hear or read that 10.5 would cost a measly $129? Apple? The same people in Cupertino who promised Leopard’s release before summer 2007? Any speculation what wonders Apple will reveal at MacWorld Expo June 2007? A “one more thing” public apology by Jobs perhaps.
I planned to upgrade to a new Mac AFTER Macs with Penryn chips are made available. I had no intention of purchasing 10.5 till Penryn chips are released late 2007 or early 2008, at least this is what Intel has promised and I have no reason to doubt Intel. It’s not that 10.5 is late that burns me, it’s Apple failing to deliver on its promise.
Again, and as everyone ad-naseum has already said, disappointing but not really detrimental. From a PR and marketing standpoint the iPhone is the big deal for Apple right now.
Regarding having to pay for 10.5, I’m one that does have to watch my dollars AND cents, but I’ve already saved for 10.5, and by the time its released I will have saved up enough to get an additional software package I’ve been wanting for awhile. I wouldn’t wait for 10.5 if I was ready to by a new Mac. If you’re employed you can work out a new Mac, and if can do that you can afford to save a little more and buy 10.5 when its finished cooking.
Right now I’m dancing in the street because AAPL stock finally dipped below $90.00. Like a good cat I’m preying on AAPL.
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