Nov 9, 2010 07:40 GMT  ·  By

Apple feels that more testing needs to be done on Mac OS X 10.6.5 before rolling out the final public version, despite widespread belief that the development cycle of the Snow Leopard update had come to an end.

Last week, Apple greeted developers with a pre-release build of the incremental software update leading to assumptions that the final release was imminent.

Notably, the pre-release rollout had followed a relatively long development period.

As it happened, Apple changed its mind at the last moment, throwing OS X 10.6.5 back into beta with a new build seeded to developers later on through the week (Friday, November 5th).

Now, select Apple developers are reporting that another beta release has been handed to them via the company’s distribution channels.

Labeled Mac OS X 10.6.5 build 10H574, the package weighs in at 644.5MB for the delta update and contains the same focus areas as the previous builds, World of Apple informs. The build also lists no known issues.

The seed notes are provided as follows:

Known Issues

- None

Focus Areas

- 3D Graphics - Printing - QuickTime - Time Machine - USB Devices

According to the people at 9to5mac, Apple also informs that developers running beta builds of Mac OS X 10.6.6 will only be able to install the latest 10.6.5 build by downgrading to Mac OS X 10.6.0-10.6.4 first.

Mac OS X 10.6.5 is expected to launch publicly side by side with iOS 4.2, the latest software update for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, as the software is required for compatibility with some features.

On the iOS side, Apple is likely holding off the public release, rather than carrying out further testing, with a GM seed handed to developers last week.

Various sources are oscillating between the November 9 - November 12 release date, yet none seem to have solid evidence to back this with.