Reports say that Apple stores have scheduled staff on overnight shifts on Tuesday, 24 July, resulting in speculation that OS X Mountain Lion will launch the following day.
Apple is also due to announce its Q3 earnings on 24 July and, as 9to5Mac points out, OS X Lion launched the day after the company’s Q3 earnings announcement last year.
An Apple store employee has apparently told the rumour site that the set-up for the launch is on a smaller scale, as there are no hardware launches accompanying it.
Overnight shifts at the stores can be scheduled for any number of reasons so this is not a guarantee of Mountain Lion’s release into the wild, but it has been confirmed that the operating system will launch in July and the Golden Master version has already been released to developers.
Whenever it is released, OS X Mountain Lion will be available from the Mac App Store for US$19.99 and will feature an all-new Messages app, Notification Center, system-wide sharing, Facebook integration, dictation, Power Nap, AirPlay Mirroring, Game Center and the enhanced security of Gatekeeper.
