One Million Copies of Lion Bought From Mac App Store - MacRumors
Skip to Content

One Million Copies of Lion Bought From Mac App Store

Apple announced today that more than 1 million copies of OS X Lion have been downloaded from the Mac App Store worldwide in the day it has been available. Apple notes users are buying Lion faster than any other OS release in Apple's history.

1102lion missioncontrolApple marketing chief Phil Schiller:

Lion is off to a great start, user reviews and industry reaction have been fantastic. Lion is a huge step forward, it’s not only packed with innovative features but it’s incredibly easy for users to update their Macs to the best OS we’ve ever made.

At 3.7GB per download, this totals more than 3.5 petabytes of data -- 3,700,000 gigabytes.

In 2005, it took more than a month for Apple to sell two million copies of Mac OS X Tiger. Two years later, Apple sold more than two million copies of Mac OS X Leopard in its first weekend.

In 2009, it was estimated that sales of Snow Leopard -- which, like Lion, was priced considerably cheaper than either Tiger or Leopard -- were double that of Leopard, although Apple didn't tout sales numbers in a press release like they have with Lion.

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....

Top Rated Comments

King Flamez1 Avatar
198 months ago
+3 MILION on torrent (the faster way to download it)

Lion is the first piece of software that i actually bought legally, i mean seriously a whole operating system for 30$? why torrent it? you're probably going to run into trouble updating it anyway
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gibbz Avatar
198 months ago
So that's $30 million in one day, or around $21 million after Apple takes their cut .... wait a second ...
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gnasher729 Avatar
198 months ago
A whole new OS? your kidding right?
It's a slower Snow Leopard with "NEW" WALLPAPER and "NEW" HORRIBLE Exposè.
Come on guys this is Apple Vista, it must be free.

Let's see. News is that Apple sold over a million copies of Lion in 24 hours. Your first post is to recommend downloading illegal copies. Your second post compares Lion to the biggest flop in operating system history and insults Apple's engineers and implicitly anyone buying it.

So answer me this: Are you trolling because you are just a nasty person, or is it some weird insecurity that makes you behave this way?
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kycophpd Avatar
198 months ago
Apple's Data Center

For those saying North Carolina or Apple's Data Center are getting a workout, several reports out today saying Akamai actually handled all the licensing and downloading for Apple. So maybe those servers are still sitting, waiting on the iCloud.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Retrofire Avatar
198 months ago
Man who gives a damn. The price is so low that even a welfare scrounger would call the upgrade to Lion pocket change.

How realistic! A "welfare scrounger" who uses a Mac, or Hackintosh.

*ROTFLMAO*
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
198 months ago
Adobe Suite dosen't work on this new GREAT OS. I work with my mac I don't play like with iPad so I don't install it. That's all from me.
Never update your OS on day-one for a machine that is critical to your business workflow. This rule stands for every OS!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)