Jul 1, 2011 07:04 GMT  ·  By

A new report says OS X Lion is coming even earlier than the previously alleged June 19th launch date, adding that such an early release would also allow the company to roll out new hardware just in time for the end of their third fiscal quarter of this year.

A person who is presumably close to Apple, or is directly aware of the company’s plans, is telling t-gaap that Cupertino is “planning to release Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on Wednesday, July 6th at 9:00 am Pacific Time.”

Reportedly, this source is from the San Francisco Bay Area. Take that for what it’s worth.

Whether or not the Lion release date is accurate, the blog reporting on this tip makes a good point in saying that it aligns well with Apple’s current fiscal quarter which is about to end.

Not only does Apple have enough time to see Lion installed on millions of machines worldwide, the tech giant can now also ship the new hardware that’s been waiting to ship pre-installed with the new OS.

By July 19th, when the company run by Steve Jobs plans to disclose its quarterly earnings, Lion and the array of new Macintosh computers will already be selling by the thousands.

Apple has already confirmed that Mac OS X 10.7 Lion would be making its way onto the Mac App Store in July.

“Mac OS X Lion will be available in July as an upgrade to Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard from the Mac App Store for $29.99 (US),” the company said early last month.

“Lion will be the easiest OS X upgrade and at about 4GB, it is the size of an HD movie from the iTunes Store. Mac OS X Lion Server requires Lion and will be available in July from the Mac App Store for $49.99 (US),” according to the official announcement.

The OS requires an Intel-based Mac with a Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7 or Xeon processor and 2GB of RAM.