Apple may surprise with June 14 launch of Mac OS X Lion

Mark Gurman | Jun 4 2011 - 10:22 pm PT

While Apple has publicly acknowledged that they are tracking a summer release window for their upcoming Mac OS X Lion release, sources have indicated to 9to5Mac that Apple may surprise customers with a Tuesday, June 14 launch of the next-generation Mac operating system. Our sources could not confirm with certainty that the launch will take place that day, but due to a mixture of chatter from several sources we believe the June 14th date is a strong possibility.

Apple is said to be planning one of their product launch-indicative “visual updates” for the morning of Tuesday, June 14th. Sources tell 9to5Mac that this particular overnight will feature a new store-front window in addition to other signage-related changes within the retail store. These particular changes are different than the ones planned for Tuesday, June 7 – the day after WWDC. While we do not know what June 7’s changes are, we think the launch of Apple’s 2011 back to school promotion is a strong possibility.

One particular piece of evidence that leads us to believe in a June 14th Lion launch is that Apple will be minimizing software presence in their retail stores on that day. Possibily meaning the removal of Snow Leopard from Apple’s retail outlets. This may mean a mid-June Final Cut Pro X launch as well, but that is purely speculative. Apple removing software from their retail stores is not exactly an issue for Mac OS X Lion customers as this particular software release will come through the Mac App Store.

Separately, Mr. X has told 9to5Mac that Apple’s supplies of Mac OS X Snow Leopard are dwindling and a mid-June launch for 10.7 Lion makes sense based on past trends. Again, we need to emphasize that this June 14th Mac OS X Lion launch is unconfirmed. We do, however, believe that based on the mixture of information detailed above, a June 14th Mac OS X Lion launch is a very good possibility. We will hopefully know all on June 6th when Steve Jobs talks Lion at WWDC.