Why is Mavericks free?

[rick3000]

Listing to the earning call from Apple right now, they just said they see the advantages of free software to be offset by an increase in hardware sales. They expect free software to increase hardware sales by $900m (increased hardware sale minus previous software sales).

 

[surjavarman]

Has nothing to do with microsoft. People aren't suddenly going to buy macs because its free otherwise linux would have dominated a long time ago.

I am pretty sure are in the business of selling data now and thats why they want everyone on the latest OS

 

[Jambalaya]

Why it's free?

All contacts and calendars now have to be synced via iCloud (aka NSA) via US servers. This is an absolute no-go for many european businesses.

Our company already decided to sell all Macs and iPhones and I assume many EU businesses will follow.

After 10 years working exclusively with macs this is the end of the journey.

Now I'm also considering to return my privately owned brand new i7 iMac as long as I still can (and this one has a perfect screen with no issues - damn)

Really - can I ask who you work for ? I cannot see a major company deciding to take an immediate loss on selling computers and phones, having to repurchase new devices because of this. The fact is the NSA has proven it can access pretty much anything it wants to anywhere, switching away from Apple isn't going to change that.

 

[roadbloc]

Because Apple want you to upgrade. Also it makes them look good.

 

[Jambalaya]

Making Mavericks free is;

• A massive show of strength, "we don't need to charge for OS upgrades"
• It gets more users onto the latest version
• It encourages customers to think about upgrading other devices so they can best use the new Mavericks iCloud features
• It creates a big feel good effect amongst their customers

I upgraded my 2009 Mini to Lion but skipped ML, I would have paid for Mavericks but the £15 is small in comparison to the £500-£600 I will probably spend on an iPad Air to replace my iPad1

 

[thekev]

Apple charged 20 bucks for Mountain Lion and made millions. We would have paid $20 for Mavericks.

It is quite perplexing. No complaints from me either, but it seems like apple is missing out on making money from a purchase many of us would make anyway. Maybe its just to try and get everyone on the same OS for some reason. Its definitely a jab at microsoft and their expensive OS, but i don't see them making it free for that reason.

Free is a very strong term here. They do update pricing on hardware products, and of course it costs money to support older OSs. Since there are fewer total macs than Windows PCs, it may also help in terms of developer support having more people on the latest OS. You can say that many people would update anyway, but in this case more might update, and they probably use it as a sales pitch to sell more devices overall. Early versions of OSX were $129, but hardware costs of equivalent models were lower. I find it a little strange that these threads pop up, which do not acknowledge that a company will do whatever best represents its own interests.