Mac OS X Lion Release: Friday July 22 Likely The Final Answer

Speculations around Mac OS X 10.7 Lion's release date have overflown and then ebbed.

July 14, the date which most tech sites predicted as Lion's release date, came and went with no one hearing Lion's roar.

Apple did not comment on the buzz around its newest operating system, only mentioning a "July" release. Now that half of July is gone, there aren't so many days in the lot. Apple-watching sites have renewed their predictions to sometime next week (there are only two weeks left, anyway) and some have specified the release date as either July 19 or July 22.

Considering Apple's tradition (or mere coincidence) of releasing its Mac OS X updates on Fridays, it would seem safer to wait for the roar on July 22.

Earlier OS X releases:

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--OS 10.6, Snow Leopard: Friday August 28, 2009

--OS 10.5, Leopard: Friday, October 26, 2007

--OS 10.4, Tiger: Friday, April 29, 2005

--OS 10.3, Panther: Friday, October 24, 2003.

OS X Lion is expected to be accompanied by some stunning new laptops, and the rumors around them make July 22 release more probable.

Four new MacBook Airs, two with 11-inch screens and two with 13-inch screens, are in the works, according to 9to5Mac. The new MacBook Airs are rumored to feature Sandy Bridge processors, new high-speed Thunderbolt ports, backlit keyboards, and memory configuration of 128GB or 256GB, says PCMag. The new machines will be announced sometime this week, according to a source from AllThingsD. And of course, the updated MacBook Airs will be the first computer equipped with the brand-new software.

The combination of a new MacBook Air and Mac OS X Lion bundle is anchored on the fact that both Lion and the new Macbook Air have been marketed together by Apple.

An upgraded white MacBook, three new Mac minis as well as four new Mac Pros are also speculated to debut soon.

Those of us who are tired of hearing the speculations and rumors may as well stay best prepared for the release, whichever day Apple chooses to land it.