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Apple targeting Dec. 13 launch of Mac App Store - rumor

A new rumor claims Apple plans to launch its upcoming Mac App Store for Snow Leopard ahead of schedule and in time for Christmas, on Monday, Dec. 13.

According to AppleTell, Apple told developers to have their applications ready for a launch as soon as today. A source told the site that Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs wanted to launch even sooner than today.

"That obviously didn't happen, but Apple appears to be way ahead of schedule on the Mac App Store nonetheless, and looks to take advantage of the Christmas rush," author Kirk Hiner wrote.

Last week, Apple issued its second beta of Mac OS X 10.6.6 with support for the forthcoming Mac App Store. Developers with the early build were reportedly told that the latest update to Snow Leopard "contains developer support for fetching and renewing App Store receipts."

The Mac App Store was announced in October, and Jobs said it would launch within 90 days. To meet that launch window, Apple has until late January.

Apple is rumored to hold a media event in the coming days to announce the ability to subscribe to publications on the iPad through an iTunes account. It's possible that Apple could also launch the Mac App Store at the apparent event.

58 Comments

gctwnl 19 Years · 277 comments

Are they rushing something out of the door just to be in time for X-mas?

anonymouse 16 Years · 7115 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by gctwnl

Are they rushing something out of the door just to be in time for X-mas?

Probably not. They probably just got more app submissions faster than they anticipated. The 90 day window was probably an estimate of how long till there were enough apps to not make the store seem empty. The actual infrastructure was already pretty much in place.

tallest skil 15 Years · 43086 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by gctwnl

Are they rushing something out of the door just to be in time for X-mas?

When has Apple ever rushed anything, hmm? Come on.

ascii 20 Years · 5930 comments

I think this is all about reliability. Removal of the optical drive = better hardware reliability. App curating = better software reliability. The Mac will become "the computer that never crashes" and get even more converts from Windows.

solipsism 19 Years · 25701 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by anonymouse

Probably not. They probably just got more app submissions faster than they anticipated. The 90 day window was probably an estimate of how long till there were enough apps to not make the store seem empty. The actual infrastructure was already pretty much in place.

I think that sounds likely. From the presentation, I got the feeling that 90 days was a ?worst case scenario? time frame and that releasing before the end of the year was a priority for them.

The pushing of 10.6.6 beta 1 before 10.6.5 was finalized seems to indicate that much.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil

When has Apple ever rushed anything, hmm? Come on.

Oh no! You?re bound to get posters who correlate a product hanging even a single issue as proof that it was rushed out with zero quality control.