Mac OS X Lion
• Features: After numerous Developer Previews and announcements, we know at this point almost everything to know about OS X Lion’s new features. Wikipedia has a good overview.
• Back to My Mac: Expect Lion to get the iPhone and iPad’s tracking abilities in case of loss or theft. It’s mentioned all over the place in the Developer Previews, even though it has yet to be announced.
• Release: We’ve heard that Apple was distributing the Gold Master of OS X Lion internally a few weeks ago, and with Lion currently at Developer Preview 3, we know it’s very, very close to being done. Current rumors suggest it will become available on the after Steve Jobs’ keynote on Monday.
• Distribution: It is believed that when Lion is made available for purchase, it will be available for download immediately via the Mac App Store. In fact, a recent Snow Leopard update made it possible to upgrade a user’s system via the Mac App Store. In addition, OS X Lion should be available via retail channels on both DVD and USB drives.
• Price: We expect Lion to follow Snow Leopard’s pricing model, with a single-user license costing just $29.
• Server Support: Apple has already said that Mac OS X Lion and Mac OS X Lion Server will be the same software, but the latest evidence suggests that to enable Server support in Lion, you’ll need to pony up an additional fee on the Mac App Store. Considering Snow Leopard Server costs $499 for unlimited client licenses, that could end up being an expensive buy-in.
Next Page: iPhone 4S, Time Capsule, iTunes 11, MacBook Air, Etc.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
60 responses to “The Cult of Mac Super Guide To What To Expect At WWDC 2011 [Feature]”
New AppleTV (A5 chip) with wireless of mirroring iPad2?
Think gaming, browsing etc, all on the TV??? Using the iPad/iPhone4S
Update to time capsule = wireless syncing… well maybe.
MacBook Air missing … Rumors suggest it will be the one more thing …
Really good one that we forgot. Thanks! Updating.
nice one. but why, oh why is everything these days just about consumer stuff? any predictions on iWork ’11/’12, iWork.com, Aperture 3.5, Logic Studio, or maybe MacPro? One could expect that the new OS is accompanied by new applications, right?
Any investigation (!) on what new features or applications within iWork could be?
Guys hit us with something that hasn’t been predicted over and over again by you and the other blogs. Please.
“In fact, a recent Snow Leopard update made it possible to upgrade a user’s system via the Mac App Store.”
When was this update released? I remember reading about it, but the only update that I’ve gotten was the security patch for MacDefender.
Oh Mr. Jobs, please separate the functions of handling all iOS devices, movies, music and even purchasing of media into different software packages. iTunes = iBloated and the gas is killing me.
What about applescript?!? that’s one of my favorite pieces of MacOS, I’ve been wanting on my iphone ever since I got one :/
It’s too soon to dump the 3GS altogether. I think it’ll be thrown into the same “limited feature set” bucket that the 3G was thrown into when iOS 4 was released. Aside from the timing being about the same (the 3GS is 2 years behind iOS 5 as the 3G was 2 years behind iOS 4), AT&T is still featuring it prominently in its advertising. It just doesn’t feel like something Apple would do.
oh yes onemorething:
the macbook air will be risc based, not intel based
What about existing MobileMe customers that won’t expire yet. Will they just upgrade to the iCloud at no charge or pro-rated?
No chance.
any news on new mac mini? I want a price drop or a worthy upgrade for the same price.
I feel like apple should have another hardware event some products are getting outdated like the mac mini
macbook
iPod classic
iPod nano
So in the name of less bloat you want to launch 14 separate applications to manage your media and sync your iDevice? No thanks.
iTunes can definitely use some improvements, but splitting it up is not one of them. In fact, I wish iBooks would be added to iTunes.
Intel’s Sandybridge server CPUs are not ready for Mac Pro yet, so if there is an update it will be a small one such as processor speed bump, maybe more memory, bigger hard drive, faster video. MAYBE lightpeak, but probably not, since that would require redesign of the logic board, which I am sure they are saving for Sandybridge.
Agreed. Absolutely zero chance of this. In the entire world. I’ll eat my hat if it happens.
iWork!
Agreed. iTunes needs to be rewritten from the ground up, not frickin’ split into a million apps.
Apple TV3
14 might be a bit extreme, I was thinking more in the ballpark of 4.
As a case in point: Why on earth would you want to use the same interface for browsing books as you would music? Look at how iTunes, Music and iBooks differ on iOS devices. That’s what I want.
If Apple were to release an overhauled, revamped and fully functional iwork.com as part of of the iCloud launch, and release iWork ’11 for Windows as a companion, it’d open the doors to widespread enterprise adoption for Apple and effectively be a bullet between Microsoft’s eyes. I’m half expecting it, although it seems few has had the same thought so far. Maybe this’ll be this year’s One More Thing..?
WHAT?! What about them kicking off the free iPod Touch/printer for students this summer? Are they not doing that promotion?
it´s not released yet.
There is absolutely no chance that iCloud will function as a digital locker for music. If you didn’t purchase it through iTunes, it will not be available from the cloud.
As far as the music labels are concerned, if you didn’t purchase it from iTunes, you pirated it.
OH NO! That’s it! I’m remembering this: June 2011 – the first time the words “iOS 6” were used, along with “iPhone 5” last summer, “iPhone 4” in September 2009, and OS X 10.6 in early 2008.
You missed: Support for more than 12 apps in a folder in iOS5
BTW… Surely the “tracking abilities” on OS X based computers will be called “Find My Mac”. Conversely, “Back to my Mac” already exists, has been available for years, and relates to file sharing and Screen Sharing over the Internet.
It doesn’t really need to be split up, but there is a lot of great ways Apple could do it – 1: Put iTunes store in the cloud. Sign in, and it’ll download in iTunes next time you open it up. 2: Unified app store for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, splitting that out of iTunes. 3: Separate app for iTunes and iTunes Store.
Awesome thought!
Don’t you think uploaded CD’s will fly? Or music bought from Amazon?