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Software Apple Delays OS X 10.5, Blames iPhone
Brandon Hill (Blog) - April 13, 2007 11:00 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 43 comment(s) - last by INeedCache.. on Apr 17 at 7:37 PM

Blame it on iPhone
Apple says that extra attention needed for iPhone is the cause for OS X 10.5 delay

While Microsoft may have caught a lot of flak for the lengthy delay of Windows Vista, Apple will now have a smaller delay of its own when it comes to OS X 10.5 (Leopard). According to a press release yesterday from Apple, Leopard will not be launched this June at the Worldwide Developers Conference, but will instead launch in October.

"We now plan to show our developers a near final version of Leopard at the conference, give them a beta copy to take home so they can do their final testing, and ship Leopard in October. We think it will be well worth the wait. Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we're sure we've made the right ones," said the company in the release.

This release would normally just be seen by consumers as disappointment since the operating system won't be delivered as expected -- but there's more to the story.

In late March, DigiTimes actually reported that Leopard would be delayed until October. Michael Gartenberg, an analyst for Jupiter Research, decided to contact Apple directly and get the low-down on the situation. "Just spoke with Apple who confirmed the reports are wrong and Leopard is still scheduled to ship in this spring as they previously announced,” said Gartenberg in his blog on March 23. “The rumor mill is wrong again.”

Likewise, Apple Insider also dug into DigiTimes following Gartenberg's report. "Carve out another notch in the loss column for Taiwanese-based DigiTimes, which on Friday reported that Apple's next-generation Leopard operating system would be delayed till October," wrote Apple Insider.

Apple indicates that the reason for the delay is due to the resources needed to launch the iPhone in late June. "We can't wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is. However, iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price," Apple continued. "We had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team."

Leopard will be a true 64-bit operating system for Apple and will have 32-bit backwards compatibility. Apple is also touting a new feature called Time Machine which is similar to Vista's System Restore along with an integrated version of Boot Camp.

Apple’s iPhone was announced this year at MacWorld 2007 and ended up being the talk of the town at the Consumer Electronics Show. The iPhone features a 3.5" 320x480 display, 4GB or 8GB of memory, GSM, WiFi, 2.0MP digital camera and runs OS X. The iPhone is priced at $499 for the 4GB model and $599 for the 8GB with a 2-year contract.

It's rumored that the iPhone will be powered by a Marvell PXA320 processor which is currently available in speeds of up to 806MHz (although samples have been seen running at 1.2GHz).

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Sticker Shock
By BLOfelt22 on 4/13/2007 11:35:19 AM , Rating: 5
Nice phone/gadget/starbucks conversation piece. I do have to wonder about how Apple intends to move these things at USD500 and USD600 while Sony is struggling to move PS3's at the same price point.

Maybe the carrier will help subsidize the price but that will probably mean a +3yr contract. Personally, I never keep any phone that long. At least the PS3 should have a longer shelf life and in my opinion more value as an entertainment unit.




RE: Sticker Shock
By das mod on 4/13/2007 11:54:28 AM , Rating: 4
actually, if you want to get technical...
when the RAZR was first released, it was being
shoved up costumers butts at a measly $700 figure
so $500-$600 is not too bad, but still, i wouldnt purchase it


RE: Sticker Shock
By tuteja1986 on 4/14/2007 12:09:33 AM , Rating: 2
Well current state of iphone is not looking good as they are having battery problem. The iphone can stay active for only few hrs on a full charge and that is even greatly reduced if you are listening to MP3 or watching a Video.


RE: Sticker Shock
By Langosta39 on 4/13/2007 11:57:51 AM , Rating: 1
Go have a look at the Cingular website and check out the price of phones. There are a dozen or more that are over $400 including the KRZR, but the 2-year contract deal knocks $150-300 off depending on the phone. I don't think they will have any trouble selling this thing.


RE: Sticker Shock
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 4/13/2007 12:02:11 PM , Rating: 5
The $499 and $599 price is with a 2-year contract.


RE: Sticker Shock
By AlexWade on 4/13/2007 4:22:42 PM , Rating: 3
My Cingular contract comes up for renewal Saturday the 14th. I could wait and get an iPhone, but instead I'm going to spend my money on a small Ericsson W810i and a 4GB Memory Stick. That will provide plenty of my iTunes tunes at a fraction of the price.

I wouldn't even spend $500 for a PS3, much less a phone that I may lose, damage, or drop.


RE: Sticker Shock
By rbuszka on 4/13/2007 1:24:02 PM , Rating: 2
This simply depends on whether a large number of people feel that the iPhone is worth that amount of money for the features, design, performance, and user experience it offers. The rest of us, unfortunately, will run headlong into that old saying, "you gotta pay to play."


RE: Sticker Shock
By Allen Iverson on 4/14/2007 12:00:18 AM , Rating: 2
its all about marketing my friend.
and boy is apple good at marketing.


RE: Sticker Shock
By stevenplatt on 4/14/2007 1:47:34 PM , Rating: 2
I totaly agree. The iPhone is priced way to high. I know that there will be some people that argue that other phones have launched at this price, but whhen you put the price into perspective, there are so many other things that you can get with $600. A PS3 for example, or a budget laptop. Unlike other phones such as the razr which quickly dropped in price, Apple has a track record or selling thier outdated product and demanding the same retail price. If Apple does not drop prices, Cincular will not be able to offer many incentives or cheaper prices even years from now. Dont get me wrong, the iPhone seems to be a great product, but Apple is taking a huge gamble if they think these things are goind to sell like hotcakes at these prices.


distorted comparison?
By fic2 on 4/13/2007 12:23:32 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
While Microsoft may have caught a lot of flak for the lengthy delay of Windows Vista, Apple will now have a delay of its own


Wasn't Vista delayed something like a total of 2 years and had the best part (new file system) stripped? That certainly compares to this 3 months delay.

BTW, I don't use Vista or own any Apple stuff.




By Master Kenobi (blog) on 4/13/2007 2:47:09 PM , Rating: 3
I've no complaints about Vista. Works great at both home and work. 64-bit at home, 32-bit at work. Flawless operations....


RE: distorted comparison?
By Zelvek on 4/13/2007 2:58:26 PM , Rating: 1
well it does depend on how you look at it as vista wasn't so much delayed as completely thrown out the window and redone from scratch.


RE: distorted comparison?
By RandomFool on 4/13/2007 3:09:28 PM , Rating: 4
Vista was also an entirely new OS unlike Leopard which is just an improvement to the current OS.


RE: distorted comparison?
By InsaneScientist on 4/13/2007 4:12:58 PM , Rating: 2
Well... mostly.
Much of the core was taken from Server 2003 (after they threw out the original XP based version, as mentioned by the guy above), though it was massively upgraded, but to say that it is entirely new isn't copmletely accurate.

It probably is a much more major revision than Leopard is, though. By the same token, Microsoft is a much bigger target than Apple is, and therefore its OS gets attacked far more, so they needed a bigger revision than Apple does.


RE: distorted comparison?
By ChronoReverse on 4/14/2007 5:19:19 PM , Rating: 3
The best part huh?

So what were you planning to do with the said new file system that is so dearly missed?


Deja Vu
By wrekd on 4/13/2007 11:28:02 AM , Rating: 2
I thought I heard "rumors" that Leopard was delayed until October because of Vista and Bootcamp issues.

Let the doublespeak begin!

Quick, whats my name again?




RE: Deja Vu
By Midas360 on 4/13/2007 11:46:00 AM , Rating: 3
Well, as you can see, the "rumors" were completely fabricated and untrue.

I guess Sir Steve Jobs forgot to turn on the Reality Distortion Field during Leopard and iPhone development.

What an *.

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut


RE: Deja Vu
By retrospooty on 4/13/2007 11:50:13 AM , Rating: 3
I guess you dont believe the FOMA? ;)


RE: Deja Vu
By wrekd on 4/14/2007 6:13:25 PM , Rating: 2
Wikipedia's OS X 10.5 description has been updated to reflect the delay like its History 101!

Yes, I went to the popular yet controversial Wiki to research OS X. Only to prove the Reality Distortion Field is at full strength.


RE: Deja Vu
By Enoch2001 on 4/15/2007 11:53:23 AM , Rating: 3
Kurt Vonnegut would own an iPhone. ;-)


RE: Deja Vu
By INeedCache on 4/17/2007 7:37:31 PM , Rating: 2
Sure, and most living self-indulgent clowns will, also.


Apple iPhone
By pignati on 4/13/2007 2:59:36 PM , Rating: 3
$500 dollar phone? No thanks.
$600 dollar phone? No thanks.