Apple delays "Leopard" release until October

[Boyd Ostroff]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070412/apple...elay.html?.v=2

The "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 (quality assurance) resources from our Mac OS X team," Apple said in a statement.

[Paulo Teixeira]

Apple claims to be against DRMs but I have a feeling that Apple may be adding extra protection for Blu-Ray/HD DVD movies. I could be entirely wrong but it’s a good possibility for this delay. This can even explain the reason for Apple not releasing a built to order Blu-Ray/HD DVD drive yet.

[Nick Royer]

That's kind of good new for me. I don't have to spend the money until October. And Tiger is so good now that it's not like Leopard is going to be that much better (although it may just surprise us). I already have a MacBook Pro so I'll get a BluRay external.

[Harrison Murchison]

Originally Posted by Nick Royer

That's kind of good new for me. I don't have to spend the money until October. And Tiger is so good now that it's not like Leopard is going to be that much better (although it may just surprise us). I already have a MacBook Pro so I'll get a BluRay external.

So what's your next hardware purchase? October isn't all that bad. If Apple has a feature complete Leapard Beta at WWDC in June they'll likely only need 2-3 months to go Final Candidate and ship by September. My opinion.

I think they delayed Leopard because it "will" take a bit more time to complete and it won't hurt to have a seperation of two huge product launches. The iPhone is on schedule for June and then Apple can ship Leopard in September for "back to school"

Leopard isn't flashy to many people "yet" but I do respect the amount of work they've done at the "nuts n bolts" level. 64-bit everywhere and much improved development tools means better applications for us all. Dollars to donuts says that we're going to be looking at a large change in user interface as well. There's got to be something "glitzy" coming.

Oh well more time to prepare for me.

[Bill Davis]

The Apple web site had a simple explanation posted today.

Seems they re-directed so much engineering talent to get the iPhone ready for launch that it put the work on OSX behind. They were pretty up front that while the feature set is pretty well fixed, they needed time to get the new OS "ship ready." The story mentioned "late beta" copies to seed developers at the WWDC and that the actual ship date would come after that.

The article also said that a lot of the FCC "certification" for the iPhone is done so the engineering team is turning their attention back to Lepoard.

Makes sense to me since these are BOTH huge engineering undertakings and you would definately want the "A" team putting their stamp on both code bases.

[Steve Connor]

Us Europeans don't benefit as we still don't get the iPhone until the end of the year at least!

Let's see what happens at NAB on Sunday to see if this affects the Next FCP release as well.

[Steve Benner]

For what its' worth, here are my guesses:

(1) NAB - New Final Cut Studio (Open Timeline, HD DVD/Blu-Ray Support, Surround Sound to name a few) and Apple will finally upgrade the Macs since that still has not happened yet (the 8-Core is mearly another option, not a full upgrade of the systems.

(2) WWDC - Obviously Leopard will be shown, but we get to see the "Secret Features". my money is that the iPhone "Touch Screen" technology will be implimented into the Mac. They just dropped the prices of the Displays...I expect new ones are on the way.

And at either one of these shows, Apple will unvail an iPod (similar to the iPhone) that is Touch Screen, Widescreen, and WiFi...just no phone.

Also, I expect HD Downloadable movies/TV Shows with 5.1 Surround to be on the Apple Store for AppleTV very soon.

Again

[Zack Birlew]

Hmmm... this wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have a RED camera coming to me in the June/July range. I only have a Mac Mini and a 550mhz Powerbook G4! =( Not to mention my brother was wanting to try out some 3D software during the summer, the 8-core was looking pretty nice.

One thing's for certain, there had better be something good at that Apple press event on Sunday.

[John C. Chu]

Originally Posted by Steve Benner

And at either one of these shows, Apple will unvail an iPod (similar to the iPhone) that is Touch Screen, Widescreen, and WiFi...just no phone.

Again

I really like that thought: an iPhone...without the phone part--and everything else.

That would be pretty sweet--or maybe have a slot for a Verizon Wireless Aircard.

Or I just get near a hotspot and I can make free phone calls via skype/ichat/voip? No monthly charges.

[Steve Benner]

Originally Posted by John C. Chu

I really like that thought: an iPhone...without the phone part--and everything else.

That would be pretty sweet--or maybe have a slot for a Verizon Wireless Aircard.

Or I just get near a hotspot and I can make free phone calls via skype/ichat/voip? No monthly charges.

They might do the chat thing, but Verison is a no-no. Cingular and Apple are contracted together for a while.

[Boyd Ostroff]

There's an article by Mark Veverka in Monday's issue of BARRON'S, "Apple Delay is no big deal" which concludes the delay won't have much if any long term effect on Apple and will just delay the upgrade cycle by a quarter. This comment from Charles Wolf is interesting...

Wolf suspects that Apple may try to smooth over the situation by initiating an upgrade coupon program for Mac purchasers who choose not to wait. Unlike Windows operating-system upgrades, which have been difficult for average users (witness Vista), Apple upgrades are usually easier, Wolf argues. "It's painless," he says, and shouldn't cause potential Mac buyers to rethink their decisions.