Release date hint on Notify Me page?

That would be cool, but I don't see the release falling on a Sunday.

Except that the 17th is a Sunday. Lion will not be released on a Sunday. But otherwise a good observation.

iCal has always had a July 17th display date in ads. It was also the default date in Tiger OS 10.4 and was only updated when iCal was/is open. When iCal is closed in Tiger it shows July 17.

So I wouldn't read anything into it. Also, July 17th is a Sunday. Apple doesn't launch new products on weekends, or traditionally hasn't.

some other pictures under the mac section is set to the 17 and running snow leopard. but that would be very cool

But if you look at the iMac on the main Mac page the date says July 26
http://www.apple.com/mac/

iCal launched on July 17, 2002. That's why it has often appeared in marketing materials with the 17.

...Why couldn't they release a digital download on a Sunday?

Whilst I'm not suggesting that it is or isn't the 17th, I wouldn't put it above Apple to release it on a Sunday. If anything, it'd give them something more to brag about.

ccubed34 said:

But if you look at the iMac on the main Mac page the date says July 26
http://www.apple.com/mac/

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But how to we know it says july? I might be June, or any other month for that matter. I don't think it means anything IMO.

I would bet on next Tuesday, which is July 19th. Let's wait n see.

TheGdog said:

But how to we know it says july? I might be June, or any other month for that matter. I don't think it means anything IMO.

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If you at the top left hand corner of the iMac, the dates says the 17th...strange to have two diffent dates on the same screen if one doesn't mean something. IDK. just an observation.

The mba has a different date on it cant read it thought looks like its in the teens though

ccubed34 said:

If you at the top left hand corner of the iMac, the dates says the 17th...strange to have two diffent dates on the same screen if one doesn't mean something. IDK. just an observation.

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The iCal icon defaults to July 17th. Go to your applications folder and look at the iCal icon.

darn thought I might have had something there for a moment...o well it made some of the time pass...lol

As said above, it would appear that it's been around too long to really be a significant number.

Apple is extremely careful about their appearance (except when it comes to their lawsuits lol). I wouldn't think it farfetched to say that they may have picked 17 as the most universally amiable number: 7 is a lucky number. It's uneven. Having a double-digit number for a date looks nicer as well. Putting a 0 before-hand looks odd. So "17" simply looks nice. "27" makes you think about the end of a month, which seems more negative. It sounds like a tiny detail that no one would really care about... but you'd be surprised.

The Mac Mini's promo page from a year ago says Jul 17th



and so does the MacBook Air from 2008 running Leopard


(Click to Enlarge)

TheGdog said:

The iCal icon defaults to July 17th. Go to your applications folder and look at the iCal icon.

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True, but the iCal dock icon doesn't. In Lion, the dock icon shows the system date, even when the app is closed.

Since the date is in the future, that icon is obviously not an accident. And there's no reason why the release couldn't be on a Sunday. "They wouldn't do that on a Sunday" is old-style thinking; Sunday is a short RETAIL day, and a day that many people stay home.... which is exactly a reason TO release a digital download on a Sunday.

DannySmurf said:

Since the date is in the future, that icon is obviously not an accident. And there's no reason why the release couldn't be on a Sunday. "They wouldn't do that on a Sunday" is old-style thinking; Sunday is a short RETAIL day, and a day that many people stay home.... which is exactly a reason TO release a digital download on a Sunday.

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I think Apple is planning on allowing users to get used to Lion (showing them all the new features) at the retail stores and possibly allow them to download it there. And since Sunday is a short retail day, they wouldn't do that. I would think they would want as many visitors as possible on the release.

And as a previous post mentioned, the 17th of July was the day iCal was first released or something like that.

For all of you who just don't get the clue when enough is enough, I present to you new Mac OS X Lion Facepalm 10.7

eah2119 said:

I think Apple is planning on allowing users to get used to Lion (showing them all the new features) at the retail stores and possibly allow them to download it there. And since Sunday is a short retail day, they wouldn't do that. I would think they would want as many visitors as possible on the release.

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That's a total shot in the dark, since Apple hasn't said they would do anything like that. However, wanting more retail hours for customers to use Lion is a good point.

And as a previous post mentioned, the 17th of July was the day iCal was first released or something like that.

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No, the first release of iCal was September 10, 2002. July 17 may be the date it was demoed maybe, but it's not the release date.

But, Apple has always used times and dates in its marketing material and demo slides that it expects to match with release dates or big reveals. They even try to make clock times on demo slides precisely match the point in a demo where something is going to be shown. And they do occasionally drop hints about something upcoming in their marketing material.

That doesn't mean that the 17th is significant, but it's a possibility.

DannySmurf said:

No, the first release of iCal was September 10, 2002. July 17 may be the date it was demoed maybe, but it's not the release date.

But, Apple has always used times and dates in its marketing material and demo slides that it expects to match with release dates or big reveals. They even try to make clock times on demo slides precisely match the point in a demo where something is going to be shown. And they do occasionally drop hints about something upcoming in their marketing material.

That doesn't mean that the 17th is significant, but it's a possibility.

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July 17 is when iCal was announced by Apple and is why the 17 has historically been on the icon. As to the rest, Apple has certainly used times and dates from PAST events, but not so much for future teases. Do you have an example?

gibbz said:

July 17 is when iCal was announced by Apple and is why the 17 has historically been on the icon. As to the rest, Apple has certainly used times and dates from PAST events, but not so much for future teases. Do you have an example?

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Not off the top of my head. I remember reading an interview with Jonathan Ive (which I cannot find at the moment) where he talked about how they try and match times on screenshots precisely with big product reveals in demo slides. It's a bit of extrapolation to get from there to Lion's release date, but there you go.

The iCal date may mean nothing at all, except that that isn't the date that iCal shows in the dock in Lion, and the date in the screenshot is in the future, and within the expected window of Lion's release.

Personally, I don't care. lol Like everyone else with $100, I've been using the GM for some time.

DannySmurf said:

Not off the top of my head. I remember reading an interview with Jonathan Ive (which I cannot find at the moment) where he talked about how they try and match times on screenshots precisely with big product reveals in demo slides. It's a bit of extrapolation to get from there to Lion's release date, but there you go.

The iCal date may mean nothing at all, except that that isn't the date that iCal shows in the dock in Lion, and the date in the screenshot is in the future, and within the expected window of Lion's release.

Personally, I don't care. lol Like everyone else with $100, I've been using the GM for some time.

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I don't either, ha ha. I think everyone is just itching to give Apple $29. It will be released sooner or later.

cocacolakid said:

iCal has always had a July 17th display date in ads. It was also the default date in Tiger OS 10.4 and was only updated when iCal was/is open. When iCal is closed in Tiger it shows July 17.

So I wouldn't read anything into it. Also, July 17th is a Sunday. Apple doesn't launch new products on weekends, or traditionally hasn't.

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Apple hasn't traditionally launched over-the-web only OS upgrades.

typswif2fingers said:

for all of you who just don't get the clue when enough is enough, i present to you new mac os x lion facepalm 10.7

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rofl :d