Mac OS X 10.6.5 Release Delayed

It appears that Apple has a few more things to implement before releasing the 10.6.5 update to Snow Leopard users.

Earlier this week, the Mac maker issued a pre-release build of the software internally, leading to assumptions that OS X 10.6.5 would see its public release this week.

However, with a new beta build (10H571) of the software seeded to developers on Friday, estimates on the public release of Mac OS X 10.6.5 have changed.

It is currently unknown what build 10H571 requires developers to focus their testing skills on.

What is known is that iOS 4.2, the next software update for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, requires Mac OS X 10.6.5 to support AirPrint functionality, therefore the two updates are expected emerge simultaneously.

iOS 4.2 is also known to have reached a final, stable form, with the 4.2 GM seed emerging earlier this week.

On November 1, the changelog for Mac OS X 10.6.5 was revealed by 9to5mac, whose editors posted a screenshot of the seed notes in question.

According to the documentation shipped with the pre-release build, Apple said “The 10.6.5 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that:

- improve reliability with Microsoft Exchange servers
- address performance of some image-processing operations in iPhoto and Aperture
- address stability and performance of graphics applications and games
- resolve a delay between print jobs
- address a printing issue for some HP printers connected to an AirPort Extreme
- resolve an issue when dragging contacts from Address Book to iCal
- address an issue where dragging an item from a stack causes the Dock to not automatically hide
- resolve an issue with Wikipedia information not displaying correctly in Dictionary
- improve performance of MainStage on certain Mac systems
- resolve spacing issues with OpenType fonts
- improve reliability with some Bluetooth braille displays
- resolve a VoiceOver issue when browsing some web sites with Safari 5”

Update: My apology for the erroneous reference to OS X 10.5.4. The quote is a transcript which I (obviously) hurried to reproduce on our web site.