Got A New Mac? You Can Already Claim Your Free Copy Of Mountain Lion [Updated]

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We recently told you that Apple will be giving free copies of OS X Mountain Lion to customers who purchased a new Mac from June 11, 2012 onward. Everyone else will have to pay $20 to download the new OS in the Mac App Store. Apple’s OS X Up-To-Date Program has already gone live unofficially, and that means you can claim your free copy of Mountain Lion now before it’s made available later this week.

Apple already has a placeholder webpage up for new Mac owners to get Mountain Lion for free when it ships:

The OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date upgrade will be available at no additional charge from the Mac App Store to all customers who purchase a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple Authorized Reseller on or after June 11, 2012.

Customers who purchase a qualifying Mac between June 11, 2012 and the date when Mountain Lion is available in the Mac App Store will have 30 days from the date Mountain Lion becomes available to make their Up-To-Date request.

Customers who purchase a qualifying Mac after Mountain Lion becomes available in the Mac App Store will have 30 days from the date they purchase their Mac to make their Up-To-Date request.

When Mountain Lion becomes available in July, come back to this page to request your copy of Mountain Lion.

We knew about this page already, but MacRumors has discovered the actual form for requesting a free Mountain Lion redemption code. The form is available for anyone to use on Apple’s website. All you need to do is click this link and enter your information. Update: Looks like Apple caught on quick. The form has already been taken down and is now returning a 404 error. Expect it to go back up later this week.

I own a new MacBook Pro with Retina display, so I filled out the form and got my redemption code from Apple via email. Filling out the form was relatively straightforward, although you will need your Mac’s serial number (can be found on the box it came in).

Once the claim is submitted, you’ll receive two emails. The first gives you a password that can be used to unlock the .pdf file Apple sends in a second email. This file contains your redemption code for Mountain Lion. Kind of elaborate for a $20 code.

As MacRumors notes, the code doesn’t work in the Mac App Store right now because Mountain Lion hasn’t gone live yet. Still, you can get an early start and have your code ready to use when the new version of OS X drops this week.

Via: MacRumors

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