Apple Retail Stores Making Preparations for OS X Lion Launch Next Week?

A pair of reports today are suggesting that Apple may be preparing its retail stores for a launch of OS X Lion next week, with MacBook Air and other hardware updates likely to follow alongside or soon after the new operating system debuts.

9 to 5 Mac reports that Apple has scheduled "overnights" for next Wednesday, July 13th, events where store layouts and promotional materials are tweaked and store management is briefed on new products. While the source offers no information on exactly what will take place during next week's overnights, it seems reasonable to guess that OS X Lion will be a focus of the changes.

os x lion advances even further
AppleInsider follows up with its own report also mentioning overnights scheduled for next week, although the source for that claim did not offer a specific day for the changes. In addition, sources for the report indicate that Apple is requiring that a number of display machines in its retail stores have their RAM upgraded by this Sunday, leading to speculation that Apple is topping them off in advance of the OS X Lion launch.

Separate sources for the report specifically indicate that Apple is preparing OS X Lion for a public launch next week, with revamped MacBook Airs potentially set for an introduction the following week. Retail sources have also indicated that Apple may be formally inviting some customers to download Lion at their local retail stores next week in order to receive assistance learning their way around the new operating system.

Beyond the MacBook Air, Apple appears to have a significant number of other Macs in line for refreshes, including the Mac mini, MacBook and Mac Pro. Other lines such as the MacBook Pro and iMac that have been updated more recently may also be seeing some stock shortages as Apple tries to make the conversion over to systems with Lion preinstalled.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
top stories 2025 12 04a

Top Stories: iOS 26.2 Coming Soon, Apple Execs Depart, and More

Saturday December 6, 2025 6:00 am PST by
You'd expect things to be starting to wind down for the holidays by now, but that doesn't seem to be the case yet in the world of Apple news, with Apple just about ready to release iOS 26.2 and other operating system updates to the public. There was also a flurry of news this week about Apple executive departures, some expected and some not so expected, while we also learned that Apple and...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

devianter Avatar
188 months ago
It will be awesome to see the new hardware.
It will be awesome to see the new OSX crashing and burning like all recent Apple OSXs have done in their first months of release. I can almost guarantee that OSX 10.7 is about as ready to release as a fornicator thinking about Dr. Ruth.
You clearly haven't tried Lion golden master. I've been using it for about a week and haven't had ONE crash since. Nor did i find any significant bugs.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
*LTD* Avatar
188 months ago
It will be awesome to see the new hardware.
It will be awesome to see the new OSX crashing and burning like all recent Apple OSXs have done in their first months of release. I can almost guarantee that OSX 10.7 is about as ready to release as a fornicator thinking about Dr. Ruth.
Don't put any money on your guarantee.

I've been using DP4 as my main OS since its release. That is, I wiped my MBPs drive and did a clean install of Lion DP4. Daily OS, with all my files, all the apps I use, everything. I'm treating it as a full release every day. This is how you really test stuff. It isn't futzing around with a vanilla copy on a separate drive. Instead, it's about forgetting that it's a preview and relying on it every day while taking your chances. Not everyone is able to do this, but for those that are, they'll learn damn quick whether this is something that's ready for release.

It's extremely stable and there are no showstopper bugs (and my hardware isn't exactly new, either.) This is the general consensus.

If the GM is anything like this (an improvement over DP4, apparently) Lion will be damn-near flawless upon release.

This will be an extremely hard act for the competition to follow.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
devianter Avatar
188 months ago
One person does not make a safe bet for stability in the OS. Wait and see. I'd be amazed if Apple released an OSX that is perfect. It isn't even close to possible.
I'm really sorry to disappoint you, but it's working fine for almost everybody. Even better, i haven't seen anybody who have encountered serious problems with it. You are just trolling, sir.
P.S
Oh, and yes, i have a 2007 (the first aluminum iMac) and a 2009 mac mini.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sodner Avatar
188 months ago
It will be awesome to see the new hardware.
It will be awesome to see the new OSX crashing and burning like all recent Apple OSXs have done in their first months of release. I can almost guarantee that OSX 10.7 is about as ready to release as a fornicator thinking about Dr. Ruth.

Sorry to disappoint you but I have it on my Air and its running fine. :rolleyes:
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cleve Avatar
188 months ago
AppleInsider is pretty incredible. They took 9to5mac's report, made it more vague and about 10 pages longer without adding anything extra.

They should offer their services to people trying to write a long dissertation
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sodner Avatar
188 months ago
One person does not make a safe bet for stability in the OS. Wait and see. I'd be amazed if Apple released an OSX that is perfect. It isn't even close to possible.

Okay, now its a group of people telling you that you are wrong. :p
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)