Why does Mountain Lion still cost $19.99 while it is FREE to upgrade to Mavricks or Yosemite?

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Level 1

8 points

Why does Mountain Lion still cost $19.99 while it is FREE to upgrade to Mavricks or Yosemite?

Hi, I just bought a refurbished Mid 2012 13' Macbook Pro i7 Core, and I noticed it is still running Lion (10.7.5) I think I might want to upgrade the OS but I do not know what I should update it to. The Macbook Pro is my only Apple product currently right now and I do not plan to get any more Apple products. So thus, I do not see any interest in the features Apple has integrated with Yosemite because I have no IOS devices.

Specs:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-i7-2.9- 13-mid-2012-unibody-usb3-specs.html

My question is why does Mountain Lion still cost $19.99 while it is FREE to upgrade to Mavericks or Yosemite?

One more question, is Mountain Lion better because it cost money?

MacBook Pro

Posted on Mar 7, 2015 2:56 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Mar 7, 2015 3:02 PM in response to Techinspace

You can upgrade to Yosemite at no cost. Upgrading to Mountain Lion will cost $19.99. That is Apple's pricing policy. The don't share their decision reasoning with anyone outside of Apple. So, it is what it is. No one is twisting your arm to upgrade.

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Answer 2

Techinspace Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 7, 2015 3:02 PM in response to Techinspace

Please note, I am asking in curiosity and not in complaining matter!

Cheers

🙂

PS:

I keep getting this prompt thing (on the top right corner of my desktop) asking me if I want to upgrade for free to Mavericks BTW.

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Answer 3

Techinspace Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 7, 2015 3:04 PM in response to Kappy

In your opinion, did you like Mountain Lion better than Mavericks / Yosemite?

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Answer 4

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Mar 7, 2015 3:12 PM in response to Techinspace

I have used every version of OS X that has been released, and I usually adopt when it first comes on the market. I've never had a bad experience with any version. Presently, I have Mavericks and Yosemite on my computer. Each on separate drives. This enables me to work with software that is not yet compatible with Yosemite. I have no particular favorite. Yosemite works perfectly well on four different computers: a 2009 and 2011 MBP, a 2011 27" iMac, and a Mac Pro.

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Answer 5

Lanny

Level 6

13,225 points

Mar 7, 2015 5:39 PM in response to Techinspace

My question is why does Mountain Lion still cost $19.99 while it is FREE to upgrade to Mavericks or Yosemite?

One more question, is Mountain Lion better because it cost money?

When Lion and Mountain Lion were introduced they cost $19.95. The prices for them have never been removed.

Both Mavericks and Yosemite were free when they were introduced.

And, if you haven't heard by now, Mavericks is no longer available. When Yosemite was introduced, Apple stopped offering Mavericks. If you downloaded Mavericks before Yosemite was introduced, you can still download it under the Purchases tab of the App Store, but otherwise it is no longer available.

Personally, I use Yosemite on a Mac far older than yours, a late 2009 MacMini with 8 Gigs of RAM, and have no complaints or issues.

Like Kappy, I have used every recent OS X version. IMHO, Mountain Lion is what Lion should have been in the first place, and both Mavericks and Yosemite have superior memory handling, that point alone makes them more worthy than Mountain Lion.

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