14 DAY TRIAL // Having already taken the first steps to move away from optical media - at least when it comes to its own software offerings - Apple will apparently ship both DVD-imprinted and thumb drive versions of OS X Lion when the new OS debuts this summer.
An Amazon Germany finding indicates that Mac OS X 10.7, the next major version of Apple’s desktop operating system, will ship on optical media.
Some believed Apple would only ship Lion on flash drives, as it did with Snow Leopard when the new MacBook Airs came out.
Since the laptops lack an optical drive, Apple felt it was necessary to treat customers to a seamless method of installing or restoring their OS without having to employ an external optical drive, or an additional computer through which Mac OS X could be remotely installed on the MacBook Air.
The same will apply with Lion. However, it is unknown which systems are eligible for the thumb drive and which for the optical drive.
For example, Apple is said to be planning a major MacBook Pro refresh and while we wouldn’t bet our money on an announcement prior to WWDC 2011 - which is precisely when Lion will debut - the new laptops may well drop their optical ballast as well.
Apple is said to be designing the new MacBook Pros to look and feel like the Air, but of course with the enhanced performance fans have come to expect from the Pro line of laptops.
Should any of this talk be true, the CD and DVD will be a thing of the past for early adopters of Apple’s new pro-laptops.
Evidence that Cupertino is doing away with optical media also comes from the discontinuation of boxed copies of various software offerings, like MobileMe, iWork, iLife and others.
However, the fact that most Macs with optical drives will support Lion does not necessarily mean that Apple plans to ship the software on DVD. After all, none of them lacks a USB drive.