Mac OS X Lion to be “Aggressively Priced” and Include Free iCloud Services?
A new report indicates that Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will be “aggressively priced” and include free access to some of the expected iCloud features and services as an added incentive for Mac users to upgrade.
Lion to Include Free iCloud Features?
Providing a substantial reason for Mac users to jump to Lion, Apple may offer some iCloud features completely for free. This could be indicative of direct Lion and iCloud integration, or just an upgrade bonus. Unfortunately the report from AppleInsider does not mention which iCloud features would be included with Mac OS X Lion for free, but this isn’t terribly surprising considering the service has only been announced by name thus far. The current expected iCloud feature list is nothing but speculation, but everyone will get a complete overview of the service at WWDC on Monday of next week.
Will Mac OS X Lion be Another $29 Upgrade?
In addition to offering some free iCloud services, Mac OS X Lion could be available at a surprisingly low sale price through the Mac App Store, potentially matching the $29 price tag of the past 10.6 Snow Leopard upgrade. AppleInsider explains that “software now plays a very small part in Apple’s bottom line, and the company is said to be interested in ensuring that users quickly upgrade to the latest version of Mac OS X, through incentives and low barriers to entry.” They cite what they call an ‘unproven source’ regarding the aggressive pricing, but the low price point of the past Snow Leopard upgrade helped it to reach record setting sales levels, and Apple would likely want to replicate that success.
iCloud Integration Could be Reason Mac OS X Lion is King of the Jungle
While Mac OS X Lion already shows many promising new features in the Developer Previews, there is increasing evidence that suggests iCloud could be one of the defining unannounced features that sets Lion apart from any previous Mac OS X release, thus justifying the “Lion” king-of-the-jungle monicker. Rumors have long existed that suggest there will be cloud integration in Apple’s next major OS, but the widely used developer builds have either completely omitted or carefully disguised many of the features that have been patented or simply rumored and hoped to exist. Is iCloud integration going to be the killer feature of Lion? Pay attention to WWDC this year, it’s going to be a big one.
Ive just bought the new macbook pro 17″. Its my first mac. I only bought it on Monday. Should I return it and wait for the new OS X Lion to come out and then purchase it?
No, I wouldn’t return it. The new MacBook Pro is a great machine, installing Mac OS X Lion will be very easy and likely offered at a great price through the Mac App Store. I would just wait it out and enjoy your new Mac.
Do you think they will offer a discount? Have they offered discounts previously? It’s my first MacBook so takes some getting used to :)
I know it’s probably not the right place to ask but what’s a decent video editing software? I need to convert some videos for YouTube and add my website logo to it. The videos that need converting are HD so relatively big in size. Once again thanks for your update Matt
I doubt it will sink as low as $29 – I’m guessing closer to $69 or possibly even $99. But like others, I’ll be upgrading even if it’s the normal $129. Having used the developer preview version of Lion already, I’m convinced it’s worth full price. What interests me at this point is what Apple will unveil regarding iCloud.
[…] comes in. It will allow you to save all of your preferences, home folders, and other local files, inside of iCloud (ok, this isn’t confirmed but were pretty certain). So when they log into an iMac or Mac […]
I’d still buy it at $129, but that would probably take a while longer. At $29 it’s a no-brainer. I’m going to let the first few days pass to see if there are any bodies falling out of the cupboard. After that it’s upgrade time.
It will be interesting to see how the back-to-the-Mac features work. Lion’s going to be a whole different animal than the previous kitties.
Waiting for it. price doesn’t matter.
I don’t think it would be that cheap maybe $49 but i hope it will be $29 LOL. Reason i think it will be higher is because this is a big upgrade… leopard to snow leopard was simple and didn’t offer that much more.
I’ll upgrade regardless of the price just to get rid of Aqua LOL!