I just opened the iMac I ordered from the Online Apple Store last week and it shipped with Lion. So it looks like Apple has started the move to Lion on all of their computers.
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My new iMac shipped with Lion on it.
- Thread starter jpetticrew
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I got my new BTO 27" i5 exactly a month ago yesterday, Lion installed. For me, the hardest thing about evaluating v.10.7 is the fact that I haven't used a Mac of any kind for 15 years. People ask me how I like Lion, and I have to reply I'm really not sure what is Lion and what is Snow Leopard.
If I buy a base $1199 iMac via online, would it come with Lion also? There's probably some Snow Leopard systems left in stock?
Nah they'll have Lion pre-installed. All orders via online Apple Store will give you Lion pre-installed. Doesn't it say in the specs overview?!
Started the move? Lion has been out for 2 months. All new systems from Apple were probably shipping with it within a week or two of Lion's release.
makes sense. i even ordered a macbook pro 13 inch base on amazon on August 15, and it shipped with lion, possibily due to amazon running out of stock (from the 20 percent off fiasco) but who knows...
Well I went to a retail store and they only had SL machines. They said they would;t have Lion machines for a few months, so I just assumed. I went online finally thinking that maybe I'd have better luck.
Only the Mac Mini and MacBook Air say specifically that they "ship with Lion" so I was a bit shocked when I got my iMac. The iMac order page still references the up to date program.
The Up to Date program is there as a reminder for people unlucky enough to buy from a reseller.
Effective 7/20 (Lion Launch day) all Macs were shipping with Lion pre-installed. They probably just re-imaged at the factory with the GM build.
Completely correct. This mistake here is mixing up ordering from Apple.com and the Apple Stores. I went to buy an Air 11" from my local store the other day and they only had SL-installed versions in stock still. Old stock has to clear through the system first.
Of course, you get Lion free with the up-to-date program, but he is right in saying that some Apple hardware still has SL installed in retail.
So much confusion in this thread. Second poster was right.
Pre-existing macs have been shipping with Lion preinstalled since day one. I know, because I ordered one online on Lion launch day and received a Lion iMac. It just depended on whether you ordered a standard config models or a BTO model. They have to run out of their existing standard config Macs before they start replacing them with Lion models. However if you ordered a BTO model, you had a much higher chance of getting Lion preinstalled at the factory. It seems though that Apple is finally catching up to the standard models now.
And you simply distinguish Lion and Snow Leopard Macs by the art on the box. Snow Leopard "purple nebula" wallpaper vs. Lion "blue galaxy" wallpaper.
Pre-existing macs have been shipping with Lion preinstalled since day one. I know, because I ordered one online on Lion launch day and received a Lion iMac. It just depended on whether you ordered a standard config models or a BTO model. They have to run out of their existing standard config Macs before they start replacing them with Lion models. However if you ordered a BTO model, you had a much higher chance of getting Lion preinstalled at the factory. It seems though that Apple is finally catching up to the standard models now.
And you simply distinguish Lion and Snow Leopard Macs by the art on the box. Snow Leopard "purple nebula" wallpaper vs. Lion "blue galaxy" wallpaper.
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Was the store still selling the 2010 model? The 2011's were never released with SL.
moxxey said:
Was the store still selling the 2010 model? The 2011's were never released with SL.
They started shipping them with Lion on it from the day it released. Of course, they probably had quite a bit of stock to shift in different stores and warehouses that still had Snow Leopard on it, but they've likely put Lion on all new builds from even before the day Lion was released to the public.
There are several ways:
1. Boot to the recovery partition and reinstall (assuming original drive).
2. Clone the drive when system is new and save it.
3. Apple has restore flash drives available through AppleCare for disaster recovery.
4. You can buy a Lion flash drive.
5. If you have another Mac and upgrade it to Lion you can made an install DVD from the Lion installer download.
In addition, expect at some point the Internet recovery feature will be available on new iMacs (and MacBook Pros and Mac Pros) the same as it is for 2011 MacBook Airs and Mac minis.
Don't like them all. I like:
1) turn mac
2) put install CD in it
3) /format all
4) install new totally clean OS
Without install CD it's impossible - that's what I don't like.
^This. I really don't like this push to have everything online. You can't even play single player on some games w/o having a persistent online connection. The internet is no where near reliable enough for me to trust having everything online. Give me a restore DVD or at least give me the capability to create restore disks natively when the machine arrives.
Cheers,
I agree as well. Almost everything I do is over the internet, but for someone as old and decrepit as myself (28), I learned on the powerhouse that was the Powerbook 1600c (hands up everyone who remembers SCSI Zip drives!). The internet on that beast was provided by a 28.8k PCMCIA TDK modem and if I had started downloading Lion when I bought it second hand in about '97-'98, I'd probably be still waiting today. Whilst all Apple hardware has been pretty reliable for me, and I think I have done at most one necessary reinstall, there is always that fear that your internet connection will be down and you desperately need access to disk utility or a complete reinstall.
I know that Apple are thinking about phasing out the optical disk drive, and I understand the reasons (cost, reliability, bringing people into the app store ecosystem), but whilst DVD drives are still put in their machines, I don't see the problem with including a DVD install disk. Even locking it to the ethernet/airport MAC address or just that particular model would not be a problem at all, as it is only meant to be an emergency backup for that particular machine. This would be even easier with a USB stick, as each one could be loaded with the relevant key.
David
I know that Apple are thinking about phasing out the optical disk drive, and I understand the reasons (cost, reliability, bringing people into the app store ecosystem), but whilst DVD drives are still put in their machines, I don't see the problem with including a DVD install disk. Even locking it to the ethernet/airport MAC address or just that particular model would not be a problem at all, as it is only meant to be an emergency backup for that particular machine. This would be even easier with a USB stick, as each one could be loaded with the relevant key.
David
