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Iphone4sinwhite

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2011
307
3
A family member has cMBP running 10.5. She wants to upgrade to 10.8 soon; I told her to wait to upgrade until she can get 10.9 for free. What typically is the free window upgrade period; 3 months? Could one reasonably expect 10.9 to be available in June next year putting her upgrade time in late March?
 

blevins321

macrumors 68030
Dec 24, 2010
2,768
96
Detroit, MI
I didn't think that there was an upgrade window for software purchases. Only hardware for about a month that comes with the old version. That said, you can probably email Apple and ask for an exception.
 
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
30
located
Apple does not offer such freebies, a free OS upgrade is only tied to hardware purchase.

Also know, that a Mac, that came with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, thus it is from 2006 to 2009, might not be able to run OS X 10.9, and even if it does, you need to buy Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard before being able to purchase Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or OS X 10.9 (though it might be different with that version).
 

blevins321

macrumors 68030
Dec 24, 2010
2,768
96
Detroit, MI
I didn't think that there was an upgrade window for software purchases. Only hardware for about a month that comes with the old version. That said, you can probably email Apple and ask for an exception.
 

iThinkergoiMac

macrumors 68030
Jan 20, 2010
2,664
4
Terra
A family member has cMBP running 10.5. She wants to upgrade to 10.8 soon; I told her to wait to upgrade until she can get 10.9 for free. What typically is the free window upgrade period; 3 months? Could one reasonably expect 10.9 to be available in June next year putting her upgrade time in late March?

As others have said, there is no free window upgrade period for software. When 10.8 came out, if I had bought 10.7 the previous day, I would still have had to pay full price for 10.8.

First, she needs to have 10.6.8 installed to even purchase 10.8, unless you plan on letting her purchase and download it on your Mac or something like that. Secondly, what's the point? 10.8 is all of $20. IMO, it's definitely a better OS than SL (which is itself a great OS), so why wait? To save all of another $20? Over the course of several months, that's a pittance.
 

iThinkergoiMac

macrumors 68030
Jan 20, 2010
2,664
4
Terra
Depends on where you bought it and if it was opened. Apple has a 14 day return. Amazon is similar.

Where I bought it and if it was opened? I'd love to know how this applies to download-only software. (Yes, I know Lion DID have the $70 flash drive, but that was ONLY available from the Apple Stores, so there "where I bought it" part doesn't apply)
 

Iphone4sinwhite

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2011
307
3
As others have said, there is no free window upgrade period for software. When 10.8 came out, if I had bought 10.7 the previous day, I would still have had to pay full price for 10.8.

First, she needs to have 10.6.8 installed to even purchase 10.8, unless you plan on letting her purchase and download it on your Mac or something like that. Secondly, what's the point? 10.8 is all of $20. IMO, it's definitely a better OS than SL (which is itself a great OS), so why wait? To save all of another $20? Over the course of several months, that's a pittance.

What makes 10.6.8 required to purchase 10.8+? Is it the App Store first availability? I'll look and see what the minimum specs required for 10.8 is.

Thanks for all the help everyone!
 

MRiOS

macrumors regular
Jun 2, 2010
184
0
What makes 10.6.8 required to purchase 10.8+? Is it the App Store first availability? I'll look and see what the minimum specs required for 10.8 is.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

The Mac App Store was first added to Mac OS in 10.6.8. Since all OS upgrades are now digital downloads that are only purchasable/downloaded from the Mac App Store, it makes having access to it a necessity.
also, assuming that cMBP means one of the Pre-unibody style macbook pros, then we can safely assume that the MBP referenced here is at minimum an Early 2008 model, which if I remember correctly supports Mountain Lion, but is most likely next on the "chopping block" when it comes to being supported in any new OS/Software.
 
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