Apple's Leopard delayed to October, iPhone blamed
By Paul Miller 
posted April 12th 2007 5:19PM
posted April 12th 2007 5:19PM
Sad news, kids: Apple is pushing back its Mac OS X Leopard release date from WWDC in June (now they tell us!) to October. Apple is blaming it all on the iPhone, saying that "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." Apple will still be showing up at WWDC with a beta version to hand out to developers, since apparently the OS will be feature-complete by then, just not bug-free. We suppose we should be grateful to Apple for being cautious and avoiding the various and often severe quality assurance issues that has plagued it recently, but this whole passing the buck thing is little lame. "Life often presents tradeoffs," says Apple, "and in this case we're sure we've made the right ones." Thanks for that little nugget of wisdom, now get back to work![Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
"I can imagine it must really be taking a lot of hard work to finish Leopard .. and no doubt the delays are understandable.. because you know the killer new features like having pictures with a mirror effect in iChat and the cleverly named "Time Machine" feature(aka System Restore that windows has had since 2001) are just going to make Leopard the MUST-HAVE upgrade for all Crapple fanboys..."
Dear iDon'tKnowWhatI'mTalkingAboutButYetIFeelTheNeedToSayIt,
Time Machine != System Restore (it doesn't back up your system files, it backs up everything you want).
Mirror effect in iChat: that's already in Tiger, it's not a new feature of Leopard. Screen & app sharing over iChat is the new addition (yes, with 3D/reflections/etc, but those aren't new either - they are classic Core Image/Video FX and are also available in Tiger applications)
When will Apple for once take the blame? The answer - never. They will continue to blame others and not take responsibility themselves, which is kind of sad, since they make some good stuff.
You do realize that Apple makes the iPhone right? So they ARE blaming themselves. Is that too hard to understand?
@ michael (first poster)
[COUGH*jack@ss*COUGH]
Are you like retarded or something?
A longer wait does less damage in the public eye than an inferior product.
I'd rather have a Leopard that's ready than one that's rushed.
YES!!!! SOrry but, I recently just switched to mac (macbook) and was not aware Apple was about to release Leopard. ANd i was pissed that i could of simply waited 2 months to get it on a updated macbook (rumor). So this IS 100% good news for me. AND PLUS, if Apple were to push back iphone for LEopard for 4 MONTHS! i would of been PISSESD. Apple do what you got to do, so i can get my iphone in JUNE! THANKS
Common boys, it's not like Tiger is broke in the first place. It outshines Vista anyday. We are not thaaaaat much in need of Leopard right now.
But yeah, I hope they release iWork and iLife
Hey derek, I see you have copy-pasted your comment from digg'...
Well the Mac site still says spring 2007. Is this another rumor
no rumor. its on apple's news headlines page.
Nuts. Probably no point in jumping to 8 cores any time before then either eh? So how long do you think before they just stop making computers altogether?
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
DAMN YOU APPLE!!!
I wanted to buy a MBP after the WWDC, with leopard installed, and not have to upgrade.
I just hope that we get new MBPs at the WWDC, Leopard or not, cause I need one for the summer holidays!
Well, I'll be living in the US from September anyway, and $130 is only about £70, so it won't be that annoying.
Better have MBPs at WWDC or before, or else... lol
I agree with you Grandmaster.... I bought a mac mini to "hold me over" until the new macbook pro's came out (recently switched from pc). I just hope they didn't borrow the hardware team too. Hire more people with that ipod money!
Bummer 'bout the delay, but I'd rather have the iPhone on time and wait a bit for a new OS. Speaking of the "iPhone effect"...
Will there be long lines wrapped around Cingular stores a week before the iPhone comes out?
Will there be murder, mischief and mayhem in the Cingular stores parking lots like there was for the PS3?
Will the first few iPhones be on ebay for $10,000.00 each?
my store i already taking preorders...i'm number 3 on the list.
I love how when Microsoft does this they're idiots, but when Apple does it it's ok.
Hypocrites.
Surely 4 months is a lot less than 4 years?
And Apple have a better excuse than MS did, its quite clear that Apple used members of the OS X team for the iPhone.
Slightly hippocritical maybe, but this delay is nothing compared to XP to Vista
Because this is clearly the same as MS when they has to take out features and rewrite the whole dang thing once or twice and still come out with a mediocre product (Sarc)
Tiger is great and MAC OS upgrades are $129.00 (only one version mind you). I don't have to tell you what Vista cost, I'm sure you know.
So where are all the mac boys who were giving microsoft crap about delaying vista?
Pushing this one under the rug as per usual and buying into the "delayed because of iPhone" propaganda.
And of course, since we're not buying it, these comments will be low ranked.
When Apple's delays of an OS reach into years, then you can compare...
I would be less bothered if they weren't delaying it due to iPhone. If they had simply said "some features will not be ready by spring and bringing them to perfection will take extra time" I wouldn't mind as much...
Apple's use of double negatives annoys me.
I bet His Steveness fired a whole bunch of asses over this. Who knew it took 2000 software developers to deliver a phone. Lamest. Excuse. Ever.
Ha ha ha, but who to blame this time... oh yeah Apple.
Now that they actually have to do their own coding for their OS it is not so simple anymore. Before it was much easier to take BSD and place a pretty interface on it but now that they have to add real world functionality...
Remember the macheads all said that Vista and Leopard would be basically released at the same time, this was one of the main reasons that Vista was to suck. It is not a matter of which is better but which you prefer. I hope when then release it (next year) it will be worth the wait.
If you buy a computer before a new OS comes out, when does apple start offering free upgrade coupons? Only 30 days? I'll be getting a new laptop in august, so I figure I'm out of luck...
They're still probably haven't figure out how to add more stars in the Time Machine UI...
Applebots, to your battle stations!!!
@Paul
The answer is simple. When Microsoft does it, the end product sucks anyway.
When apple does it the end product is nice and polished.
Just look at longhorn (errr) vista, it's release was pushed back and yet everyone is still complaining.
I love Apple, I use a Mac everday at both school and home.
But this kinda pisses me off. Apple-fans decried the delay of Windows Vista but we saw a delay on appleTV and now one on Leapord, its just kinda ironic.
I've been a major mac enthusiast for over a decade but I'm still pissed at this news. I'm glad Apple is doing the iPhone and I'm even more glad they released the iPod, but the second those things start getting in the way of what Apple is supposed to be, then I start getting pissed.
I'd rather wait a few months and have a more stable operating system, sure, but blaming these other things is not acceptable. Bad, Apple.
Fishes,
narco.
idk about you but this is absurd. when a company doesn't focus on the product that got them this far to work on another piece of hardware that gets me angry. i don't need a phone, i have one, Work on the phone, but don't take rescources away from other projects (primarily your OPERATING SYSTEM) that you promised to come at a certain point. To shame apple. I need a new notebook this summer, i don't want to buy one for class just to have it become obsolete in a few months :(
Um, you do realize that an operating system is upgradable, don't you? "Obselete" is a word usually reserved for technology that is no longer able to perform modern duties. Buy your laptop this summer, get the best [currently] available OS (OS X.4), then upgrade it in the fall. Mac OS upgrades are cheap, relatively. No big deal buddy.
FFS, learn to spell! "Hypocritical." Say it. "Hypocritical."
This reason is lame at best, and I'm not going to give it enough gratification to even call it an excuse. Retail stores hire extra help during heavy seasons. Couldn't Apple have hired on a few contractors to work on either the iPhone or OSX Leopard while they were trying to get both out around the same time?
SG
"Why couldn't they have hired a few contractors?"
Because that's how you make crappy products. I know a lot of people who have contracted to Microsoft, and believe me, you want your people invested in the company for the long term, not just for the 6 months of your contract.
Seriously, it's only 4 months. And there's nothing wrong with Tiger. It's a solid OS.
I'm a IT Contractor by trade...are you saying that, by definition, my work is inferior to the employees that work at the company I work at?
SG
I have no idea how good your particular work product is. I can tell you that, in general, contractors don't give two shakes of a lilly about the long term health of the company they happen to be doing work for, but instead just want to get their bit of the pie while they can. That's not how I like to run my business.
you guys are getting so caught up in "apple needs to stick to its core business over new ventures" whininess that you're forgetting what an extraordinary position apple is in right now: the iphone is its most buzz-generating product ever (that's saying a lot), and having set a date 6 months in advance, if anything goes even a little wrong with its rollout and launch, then the entire popular press, industry, and anyone with an internet connection is going to come crashing down on them.
leopard is important, but apple's popular reputation is arguably more closely tied to iphone than anything else for the moment.
yes.
Truly amazing how little you know in general.
SG
Apple is delaying 10.5 for four months to ADD FEATURES.
MS delays Vista for four YEARS and REMOVES FEATURES.
Big difference!!!
"Apple is delaying 10.5 for four months to ADD FEATURES.
MS delays Vista for four YEARS and REMOVES FEATURES.
Big difference!!!"
Pure gold!
Since 2002 Microsoft has released 1 new OS versions - Vista.
Since 2002 Apple has released 4 new OS versions - 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4
This is also a "Big difference!!!" I'm sitting confortably at 10.4 (Tiger) now, and I'm looking forward to Leopard.
Although if I could click my fingers now and have a finished bug-free copy of Leopard in my hands I would - but things just don't work like that, so everyone and I are going to have to wait, it's just that simple. I'm well aware of the current buggy state of Loepard, so in a sense I'm kind of releaved Apple is going to polish Leopard up more than they did with Tiger a release a virtually bug-free brand spanking OS near the end of this year.
If it turns out this means Leopard will be fully ZFS, then that alone will be worth the wait.
This is just so we are more supprised when they release it at WWDC
@Service_Games
Using stereotypes, yes, the work of a contractor will be inferior to that of an employee. Is this always true? No. Is it sometimes true? Yes. In the eyes of managers and higher ups, they will prefer the work of an employee over that of a contractor.
The company I've worked for has employed many contractors, and I've seen some of their work over the last 3 years. Some of it is on par with other employees, while others is way below what one could expect from an employee. But I've seen more bad contractors than I have bad employees....
I would like to point out a logical fallacy in this post.
While people were shot in line for a PS3, there is no evidence that they went for 10K on ebay. In fact my friend and I tried to get one at launch, he got one, i didnt. I was pissed. He posted his on ebay 2 times, and it didnt sell. He returned it and took the loss on tax and ebay. I was then glad I didnt get one.
Also, PS3's are for "Nappy Headed Hos" iphone is for the white collar citizen. The kind that eat at Jack in the box. Not mcdonalds.
I wouldn't be suprised if they fell behind on Leopard and are using this as an excuse... but also saw a great opportunity to make a big statement about their new consumer electronics device by saying...
"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."
Haha... yeeeaaaahhhh riiiiight... talk about fluff... but it's not a bad tactic for apple at this juncture... fell behind on a project, shift the blame to a newer project of yours and hype it at the same time... that way Apple fans don't care.
Another Logical Fallacy
Delayed 4 months != Delayed 2 years
Im an IT pro and Apple Fanboy. We are running Server 2k3, exchange 2k3 and 50 workstations with xp pro and office 2k3. I would not upgrade anyone to vista and when new machines arrive, i put XP Pro on them. However, I will upgrade all 8 of the Macs to leopard within 6 months of its release. Several of the clients will be updated at launch.