{"id":54268,"date":"2013-10-29T18:49:36","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T16:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/?p=54268"},"modified":"2025-07-02T01:03:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T08:03:55","slug":"future-mac-os-x-versions-will-be-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/future-mac-os-x-versions-will-be-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Future Mac OS X versions will be free"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer announced yesterday during Apple’s earnings call that all future versions of \u00a0Mac OS X will be free.<\/strong> This announcement comes on the heels of the free release of OS X Mavericks<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

Apple surprised many users by offering \u00a0OS X 10.9 Mavericks<\/a> completely free, but Oppenheimer confirmed that this will not be a one-time only deal. For Apple, this new model will result in a $900 million increase in net revenue recorded as deferred revenue coming from these updates.<\/p>\n

Microsoft, on the other hand, is in a very different position. While a consistently free upgrade to its operating system means Apple users will see the benefit of renewing their equipment more often, Microsoft offers almost no hardware, aside from its Surface <\/strong>and Surface Pro tablets<\/strong>. The release of\u00a0Windows 8.1 <\/a> was a free\u00a0update\u00a0for Windows 8 users, but the company would not be able to sustain free updates to its operating system without bundling it with hardware.<\/p>\n

A free OS update may not be the definitive factor for people choosing between Windows<\/a> or Mac<\/a>, but there’s no doubt that Apple users will definitely appreciate free updates.<\/p>\n

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