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How much does Lion cost if you don't have Snow Leopard?

With regard to the OP's plight... how long will SL be available after Lion's release? I believe retailers have already pulled it from the shelves.

Eventually, the only recourse for non snow leopard users to upgrade would be to take your machine to an Apple Store. Ridiculous if you own a desktop. Plus, with stores few and far between it's impossible for many.

So... It's hard to believe that Apple would box themselves in like that and make things so difficult. Especially with a $30 product that is basically a loss-leader intended to sell their computers. (Unlike Microsoft).
 
Toe said:
Well, what I am hearing is that I need to buy Snow Leopard so that I can use it for a few hours, after which it is garbage. Doesn't sound very green.
Click to expand...
The Snow Leopard DVD that you're buying, after the initial install, becomes your new Mac's new recovery disc.

It will absolutely be required if you replace your HDD (failure, upgrade, etc).

Hardly garbage.
 
Originally Posted by maclaptop
If it's a matter of making money, Apple takes the bait every time.
Nuckinfuts said:
Don't all companies? I'm no Business/Management major but isn't that how companies stay in business?
Click to expand...

Many companies stay profitable by doing business with integrity.
Apple follows the "blood sucking greed" approach; get your customer base to spend as much as possible as fast as possible.
Nothing unusual here; Apple's not alone. Unfortunately,all multi-billion$$$ companies do the same.:(
 
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martosprint said:
My view is to some of these posters is that if you kept your operating system up to date when anything new comes out you wouldn't have to worry about updating one to another to another. Just keep everything up to date makes the most sense. 
Click to expand...

There was zero need for Snow Leopard on this computer. Security updates always apply to the previous OS as well. A spend of $30 just for some potential future prospect of an upgrade (which of course, wasn't even detailed until quite recently), made no sense.

When Apple announced $29 for Snow Leopard, it was taken as an anomaly. Snow Leopard was an under-the-hood improvement to Leopard, and they didn't think they could charge $100+ for it. Everyone expected that Lion would go back to the normal price.

Now I'm not even hearing a way I can spend the "normal price" to upgrade to Lion.

aristobrat said:
The Snow Leopard DVD that you're buying, after the initial install, becomes your new Mac's new recovery disc.

It will absolutely be required if you replace your HDD (failure, upgrade, etc).

Hardly garbage.
Click to expand...

Which sounds like another weird thing. So that's the case for anyone who was silly enough to buy a Mac before the release of Lion? If your hard drive dies, just reinstall Snow Leopard... so you can reinstall Lion.

The message I'm hearing from this thread is: "Whenever in doubt, just buy a new Mac. They're disposable like iPhones."

Only problem is, Macs cost $1K and up. And up.
 
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aristobrat said:
The Snow Leopard DVD that you're buying, after the initial install, becomes your new Mac's new recovery disc.

It will absolutely be required if you replace your HDD (failure, upgrade, etc).

Hardly garbage.
Click to expand...

You're missing the point "totally".

It's like Microsoft making all XP users buy a copy of Vista, update it to current specs... then insert a Windows 7 disk and start all over again :)

And it's potentially worse in Apple's case. I have no idea where one can find a legitimate retail copy of SL in say... 6 months. And if Apple is still going to press SL DVD's to order online why don't they just come out with a full blown physical copy of Lion for $60?

Perhaps these road blocks are intentional so folks go to the Apple store and walk by all the new shiny macs as they head to the genius bar. That can't be bad for business. Or maybe there just aren't enough pre-SL users out there to worry about since the last OS was only $30 as well.

But alas... these problems are for greater minds to figure out. I just cut hair.
 
Apple is really clever !
They Made the App Store Only available on Snow Leopard so that Leopard users
would have to pay extra to upgrade to Lion (they think of every way to get the very last dime out of customers !)
 
Apple insisted that the OS X Snow Leopard upgrade was only available for OS X Leopard users, but I upgraded from 10.4.11 Tiger to 10.6.7 Snow Leopard. They only wanted you to purchase the Mac Box Set.

The only thing that's stopping you is the fact that it's only available on the Mac App Store, and the system hardware requirements. You'll be able to find the download online. Several reports indicate you will be able to put the upgrade on a USB key and/or a CD-ROM.

I wouldn't purchase Snow Leopard just as yet. I would look around and see if it's possible. You better start looking because Mac OS X Lion is going to release tomorrow!
 
ergotoo said:
Originally Posted by maclaptop
If it's a matter of making money, Apple takes the bait every time.


Many companies stay profitable by doing business with integrity.
Apple follows the "blood sucking greed" approach; get your customer base to spend as much as possible as fast as possible.
Nothing unusual here; Apple's not alone. Unfortunately,all multi-billion$$$ companies do the same.:(
Click to expand...

That's the American business model... 'MERICA!
 
o'glory said:
The only thing that's stopping you is the fact that it's only available on the Mac App Store,
Click to expand...
Yes. That's been established hence this thread.

You'll be able to find the download online. Several reports indicate you will be able to put the upgrade on a USB key and/or a CD-ROM.
Click to expand...
Legitimately? Where?

Sorry, as of now, based on current information an Apple-server-related download will be the only "sanctioned" source for Lion.

I wouldn't purchase Snow Leopard just as yet. I would look around and see if it's possible. You better start looking because Mac OS X Lion is going to release tomorrow!
Click to expand...
It is possible to boot into a copy of Lion and do a clean install regardless of what's on the drive. (Just read the threads here). The issue is how to "easily" (and legally) do this when you're on an older OS and don't have a SL disk.
 
Steve's Barber said:
Yes. That's been established hence this thread.

Legitimately? Where?

Sorry, as of now, based on current information an Apple-server-related download will be the only "sanctioned" source for Lion.

It is possible to boot into a copy of Lion and do a clean install regardless of what's on the drive. (Just read the threads here). The issue is how to "easily" (and legally) do this when you're on an older OS and don't have a SL disk.
Click to expand...
Did you not see this thread? https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1189888/

That explains a legit way to make a Lion boot DVD / USB key.
 
The only thing I could see is Apple doing is releasing a new Mac Box Set with Lion and a new iWork along with iLife '11. This would be September-ish, though I think.
 
o'glory said:
Apple insisted that the OS X Snow Leopard upgrade was only available for OS X Leopard users, but I upgraded from 10.4.11 Tiger to 10.6.7 Snow Leopard. They only wanted you to purchase the Mac Box Set.

The only thing that's stopping you is the fact that it's only available on the Mac App Store, and the system hardware requirements. You'll be able to find the download online. Several reports indicate you will be able to put the upgrade on a USB key and/or a CD-ROM.

I wouldn't purchase Snow Leopard just as yet. I would look around and see if it's possible. You better start looking because Mac OS X Lion is going to release tomorrow!
Click to expand...

It being possible to download lion doesn't make it legal. It was also possible to do a clean install using the SL upgrade dvd, but that too wasn't in line with the eula.

Who on earth would pirate an OS? You primary tool that might be compromised. Who would steal an OS that costs a mere €23? i guess the same people pirating €0,79 iOS apps......
 
stefan1975 said:
Who on earth would pirate an OS? You primary tool that might be compromised. Who would steal an OS that costs a mere €23? i guess the same people pirating €0,79 iOS apps......
Click to expand...

Not that I'm condoning the act, but if you have Leopard then it's double the price.

Also, as a more specific answer to your question...a friend of mine was studying abroad for a year when SL came out. It was only available at one store on the other side of the country (4+ hr ride), so he pirated it. It worked just as a real copy, and I can't say I blame him in that situation.
 
awer25 said:
Not that I'm condoning the act, but if you have Leopard then it's double the price.

Also, as a more specific answer to your question...a friend of mine was studying abroad for a year when SL came out. It was only available at one store on the other side of the country (4+ hr ride), so he pirated it. It worked just as a real copy, and I can't say I blame him in that situation.
Click to expand...

Well as if double the price is bad. €50 for two os upgrades? A new win7 pro license set me back over €200. You don't have to drive 4 hours for the SL disc either, you can just order it online.
 
I'm sure we're all missing something. Still can't picture Apple making things so difficult for those who skipped an OS which won't be sold anymore but is needed to go on to Lion. (And the answer is not a retail store 400 miles away either).

It's been suggested by a member elsewhere that maybe Apple will revisit their distribution methods for 10.7.1 and just didn't want to press a gazilion dot-zero DVD copies with another update most likely just days away.
 
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I have no problem with paying $60 to upgrade from Leopard to Lion, or perhaps even a bit more. The question is, will Apple allow me to?

If I seriously have to buy SL to get to Lion, then I'm sure I can find it from some random supplier on the net. As long as it's packaged, it's probably fine. (But yes, there's no way I'd use a pirated OS: that would be as smart as buying pharmaceuticals from a spammer... how the heck do you know the pills contain what they claim??)

The only real question is, does Apple seriously want me to install two operating systems (plus a major update) just to perform one upgrade?

And, if that's really the case, are they going to continue to sell SL DVDs, or are they going to remove it, which will technically close the official path to upgrading completely (which sounds downright brain-dead, for numerous reasons).

I suspect that, as others have implied, Apple is deliberately creating confusion in order to get people to just go ahead and buy new Macs. If they release a bunch of new models at the same time (and all models are now due or close to due), then they kinda reenforce that confusion. Apple is certainly aware that a lot of people buy new iPhones because they want the features of the new iOS (that they could get from just downloading it for free).
 
stefan1975 said:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDAzOA&mco=MTM3NDgwNzM

ships in 24 hours. so no problem there, just use the appstore to get lion afterwards.
Click to expand...

But will they tomorrow? Apparently not many people have thought about this, so will other pre-SL users be able to buy it when they realize they're stuck?

And I see no incentive to buy it today, since maybe, just maybe, Apple will provide me a much less troublesome upgrade path than making me triple-install.

If Apple doesn't provide a Lion DVD and they do remove SL, then I'll find it from a third party. It's just weird that they could actually do that, since that closes any Apple-centric way to upgrade from <10.6 to 10.7.
 
stefan1975 said:
why does he have to pirate SL? Can't he just order SL online and have the box delivered to him at home. using it to upgrade/clean install from leopard to SL to lion?
Click to expand...
Sure, as long as Apple continues to sell it. But I think they've already pulled it from retail stores.

Besides... ordering a DVD online and waiting for a it to arrive via FedEx sounds kind of ass backwards considering where Apple wants to go with this. :)

There's no doubt that Apple will not leave folks high and dry. It's just a question of how many hoops they expect them to jump through.
 
mfka said:
I don't think so, i think they are doing it that way because it is more green way to do it.
Click to expand...

yeah right if by green you mean this:

one-dollar-bills.jpg


Saving money on producing CD's and making more people aware of the App Store in order to increase revenue is their motivation make no mistake.
 
stefan1975 said:
Well as if double the price is bad. €50 for two os upgrades? A new win7 pro license set me back over €200. You don't have to drive 4 hours for the SL disc either, you can just order it online.
Click to expand...

It's not 2 upgrades, it's really one. SL isn't an "upgrade" when it's just used to buy Lion. Also, Windows has many pricing schemes - I can get Windows 7 Pro for $29 directly from Microsoft. Don't forget that before SL, OSX was $130.

Finally, Apple doesn't ship SL abroad - he tried.
 
awer25 said:
It's not 2 upgrades, it's really one. SL isn't an "upgrade" when it's just used to buy Lion. Also, Windows has many pricing schemes - I can get Windows 7 Pro for $29 directly from Microsoft. Don't forget that before SL, OSX was $130.

Finally, Apple doesn't ship SL abroad - he tried.
Click to expand...

i'm not referring to the procedure of doing upgrades but to upgrade licenses. If you are on Leopard now you have to buy two upgrade licenses, a SL upgrade $29 upgrade retail kit and a $29 lion appstore upgrade download.

you can get a n.i.b. legal SL from just about anywhere:
http://cgi.ebay.com/MAC-OS-X-SNOW-L...ultDomain_0&hash=item3a681ebf7d#ht_500wt_1031

$20 shipped worldwide. really not an excuse to pirate lion.
 
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