Despite being called Geniuses, Apple’s Genius Bar staff often doesn’t know much more about upcoming Apple products than you do. Nevertheless, a new report suggests that an Apple Genius has outed OS X Lion for a July 26 release.
At this point, it’s almost certain that we won’t see Lion get released today, and previous speculation suggesting new MacBook Airs and Mac Minis alongside Lion today hasn’t proven itself to be accurate.
When a curious patron recently went to the Genius Bar, however (not asking about Lion, no less), the Genius reportedly responded with a definitive release date: July 26th. The customer writes as follows:
So last week, I was at an Apple store in Houston buying a new iPad. The employee training me said, “And when Lion comes out on the 26th, then you can do a whole lot with your Mac and your iPad.” He said it with such confidence, it might actually be true–and I didn’t even ask him about the release date; he said it in a very non-chalant way.
Now, before you get too excited one way or the other, keep in mind that, in the best case, this is just one Apple employee’s word. It’s equally possible that the tipster fabricated the rumor entirely, although other tech pundits have also suggested the 26th as a plausible release date.
It’s quite possible that Lion’s delay was due to new hardware not arriving – new MacBook Airs have been expected, as well as white MacBooks and new Mac Minis. A delay in getting any one of those three products to Apple Stores could have resulted in a delayed release of OS X Lion.
Don’t worry folks, July isn’t over yet (Apple has already stated that Lion would be released in July), and in my book, Apple could spring Lion and new hardware on us any day now, so hold tough – the end you’ve been waiting for is in sight.
