Apple Unveils Snow Leopard Up-To-Date Details

Apple has unveiled the details of the Snow Leopard Up-To-Date program that allows people who buy a Mac before Snow Leopard is released to upgrade to the new OS at a minimal cost. The company has released a detailed list of which Macs qualify for the program, a US$9.95 price for upgrading, and instructions on how to actually use the program.

Qualifying customers are those who buy a (qualifying) new or refurbished Mac (see the list for details) on or after June 8th, 2009, the day that Apple announced Snow Leopard's shipping time frame of September, 2009. These customers can upgrade to Snow Leopard, or Mac OS X 10.6, for $9.95.

This protection extends to customers who buy a qualifying Mac without Snow Leopard through December 26th, 2009, to cover existing channel inventory.

To take advantage of the program, qualifying customers need to fill out an online form, or download the form to fill it out by hand and mail or fax it to Apple.

Snow Leopard's retail price will be $129, but Apple has already said that Leopard users can upgrade for only $29. The Up-To-Date program is intended to encourage people to not wait for Snow Leopard's release to buy a new Mac by protecting their purchase.

Snow Leopard