Apple told us that Mac OS X Lion — the next version of the company's popular operating system — will become available sometime this month. Rumors had our hopes up with assumptions that it'd be here last week. But now? Now reports are telling us that it's coming tomorrow.
According to MacRumors, Apple's retail stores are already receiving final copies of Mac OS X Lion which will be used to upgrade the in-store demo units once the magical moment has arrived:
The installations have come on hard drive and are meant for the Apple Retail demo computers on the store floor. This, of course, doesn't guarantee a specific launch date, but brings Apple one step closer to launch.
Now, while we agree that the mere presence of Mac OS X Lion inside Apple stores doesn't indicate that the operating system will launch soon, some of the gossip heard by the folks at 9to5 Mac definitely gives us a little bit of hope that we might wake up to a roar tomorrow morning:
We’re hearing from multiple retail sources across the world that Apple’s retail chain will be holding employee overnights Tuesday night. The likely topic? Lion.
It is not uncommon for Apple to hold overnight training sessions for its retail employees on the eve of a product launch. The time is often used to upgrade in-store demo computers, familiarize staff with the new products, and cover launch procedures. Or at least that's what we hear — for all we know, the Apple shroud of secrecy could simply be covering up a series of geeky pajama parties.
Either way, we're slightly optimistic that we might get to sign in to the Mac App Store and download our copies of Lion tomorrow morning. And if we don't? Then the wait still can't be too long — because there aren't many days left to July.
Related stories:
- New MacBook Air, Lion OS due out next week?
- Report: High-end 'iPad HD' coming soon
- Report: Apple's testing high-res displays for iPad 3
Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook. Oh, and she can be found on Google+, too.