Product Code Database
OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8) is the ninth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mountain Lion was released on July 25, 2012, for purchase and download through the Mac App Store, as part of a switch to releasing OS X versions online and every year, rather than every two years. Named to signify its status as a refinement of the previous macOS version, Lion, Apple's stated aims in developing Mountain Lion were to allow users to more easily manage and synchronise content between multiple Apple devices and to make the operating system more familiar.
The operating system gained the new malware-blocking system Gatekeeper and integration with Apple's online Game Center and iCloud services, while the Safari web browser was updated to version 6. As on iOS, Notes and Reminders became full applications, separate from Mail and Calendar, while the iChat application was replaced with a version of iOS's Messages. Mountain Lion also added a version of iOS's Notification Center, which groups updates from different applications in one place. Integrated links allowing the user to rapidly transfer content to Twitter were present in the operating system from launch. Facebook integration was also planned but unfinished at launch date. It was released as a downloadable update later.
OS X Mountain Lion received positive reviews, with critics praising Notification Center, Messages, and speed improvements over OS X Lion, while criticizing iCloud for unreliability and Game Center for lack of games. Mountain Lion sold three million units in the first four days, and has sold 28 million units as of June 10, 2013, making it Apple's most popular OS X release. Mountain Lion was the last paid upgrade for an OS X major release, with OS X Mavericks and later being free. Apple later allowed free downloads of the OS, especially for customers of older and no longer officially supported Macintosh computers, starting on June 30, 2021. The same practice was also applied to its predecessor, OS X Lion.
During the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on June 11, 2012, Apple announced a "near final" release version of Mountain Lion for developers, with the public version arriving in July 2012 at a price tag of US$19.99 (€15.99 in Europe, £13.99 in the UK, $20.99 in Australia and ¥128 in Mainland China). The MacBook Pro, revised MacBook Air, iPad Smart Case, and third-generation AirPort Express were announced at the keynote as well.
The specific release date of July 25 was not confirmed until the day before, July 24, by Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as part of Apple's 2012 third-quarter earnings announcement. It was released to the Mac App Store on July 25, 2012, where it sold 3 million units in the first four days of release.
An update for Mountain Lion, version 10.8.1, was released on August 23, 2012. It resolved issues with iMessages, Migration Assistant, Safari, Microsoft Exchange Server, Mail, and many other applications. Tests of the update revealed that 10.8.1 also improved battery life on laptops, albeit gaining back only half of the battery life that was lost in updating to Mountain Lion. Although 10.8.1 improved battery life for some customers, others continue to complain about reduced battery life and a constant drop in battery health, ultimately resulting in a "Service Battery" message.
The technical basis for these requirements is incompatibility with 32-bit EFI and 32-bit kernel extensions (most importantly, drivers for GPUs shipped in some older Macs). In order to prevent potentially incompatible systems from installing 10.8, the installer contains a whitelist of supported motherboard IDs. Users have bypassed these limitations so that 10.8 may run with varying functionality on some officially unsupported computers.
As with its predecessor, Messages has text messaging, audio, and screen-sharing capabilities. Messages also contains native video conversation support, utilizing Apple's FaceTime video calling application where possible. However, it does retain video capabilities for interfacing with other instant messaging clients. Messages supports Apple's iMessage, a free instant messaging service previously only available on devices running iOS. It also supports both Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) (shown in the application under its former name, Jabber) and the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) OSCAR protocol. It also offers a direct connection to Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk.
Power Nap allows flash storage-based Macintoshes (late 2010 MacBook Air and later, or the MacBook Pro with Retina display) to synchronize with iCloud (Reminders, Calendars, Photo Stream, Notes, Mail, and Find My Mac) while sleeping and also allows a Mac to download App Store and OS X updates as well as make periodic Time Machine backups when it is plugged in and sleeping. Several new screensavers were added. Share Sheets, a "Share" button and dialog box in Safari and other applications, are added. Twitter was integrated with almost all of the applications, with single-sign on, tweeting from an app, Tweet Sheets, tweeting photos and links, using multiple Twitter accounts, Twitter notifications, profile picture integration, and Location Services available.
Application updates automatically install from the Mac App Store. The iCloud library User interface (UI) was integrated throughout the operating systems, which includes new Open and Save dialog boxes across built-in applications, iWork and third-party applications via an Application programming interface (API). Applications that make use of this API support a new user interface to view and manage documents in the cloud that are specific to the application being used. Documents can be renamed from the title bar. iWork documents automatically synchronize with iCloud. The full screen ability is on every display.
The Dock has received an updated look, emulating the appearance of the aluminum surface that much of Apple's current hardware line-up sports. Scroll bars widen when the mouse hovers over them. Finder displays a progress bar in the "size" column when copying a file, and on icons in Launchpad when downloading from the Mac App Store. Launchpad has Spotlight search for finding applications. Address Book was renamed "Contacts", and iCal was renamed "Calendar".
The general attitude towards Mountain Lion was that it was faster and smoother, including Brian Heater of Engadget, who said the following:
MG Siegler of TechCrunch said that the difference between Lion and Mountain Lion was not comparable to the difference between Leopard and Snow Leopard because Mountain Lion adds many new features that were not available in Lion. He also praised the application compatibility and said that the only updates needed were to add Notification Center features to applications. Jim Dalrymple of The Loop commented "there will be tens of thousands of words published on Wednesday when Mountain Lion hits the Mac App Store, but let's face it, what you really want to know is whether Mountain Lion is worth the upgrade. Let's get that out of the way now — yes, it is definitely worth it," and said that at $19.99, Mountain Lion was a "bargain". David Pogue of The New York Times said "Over all, then, Mountain Lion is a gentle, thoughtful upgrade. All 200 new features? No, not really. But 10 that you'll use every day? For $20? Yes."
While the operating system in general was well received, some reviewers dissented from that viewpoint. Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo felt that Apple was running out of ideas and that Microsoft's Windows 8 may out-innovate OS X. Apple also received criticism for failing to provide an official upgrade pathway for owners of 2006 Mac Pro workstation computers.
Game Center was the most criticised aspect of Mountain Lion. Reviewers criticized the service for the lack of games available, reliability issues and the lack of integration with iOS games. Scott Stein of CNET commented "Game Center-compatible titles will have achievements, leaderboard info...and, potentially, a way of playing cross-platform games. As of the time of this post, I could find only seven Game Center games featured the Mac App Store," and "Until Game Center becomes a complete portal for all games on the Mac, and a true method of cross-platform iOS/Mac play, I'm not sure many people will even bother checking it out." Matt Clark of MacLife also commented that if developers don't develop applications for Game Center, it is "likely doomed to sit unnoticed on your hard drive".
Mountain Lion sold 3 million units in the first four days, making it Apple's most successful OS X release to date. A report by Chitika revealed that OS X Mountain Lion had been used by 3.2% of OS X users within the first 48 hours of release, and 10% penetration in the first month.
| 10.8 | 12A269 | July 25, 2012 | 12.0 | Original retail Mac App Store release (GM) | |
| 10.8.1 | 12B19 | August 23, 2012 | 12.1 | About OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.1 Update | OS X v10.8.1 Individual update |
| 10.8.2 | 12C54 | September 19, 2012 | 12.2 | About OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.2 Update | OS X v10.8.2 Individual update OS X v10.8.2 Combo update |
| 12C60 | October 4, 2012 | About OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.2 Update (supplementary update described at the end) | OS X v10.8.2 Supplemental Update 1.0 | ||
| 12C2034 | October 23, 2012 | For Mac Mini (Late 2012) (Pulled) | |||
| 12C3104 | November 29, 2012 | For Mac Mini (Late 2012) | OS X v10.8.2 Supplemental Update 2.0 | ||
| 10.8.3 | 12D78 | March 14, 2013 | 12.3 | About OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.3 Update | OS X v10.8.3 Individual update OS X v10.8.3 Combo update |
| 10.8.4 | 12E55 | June 4, 2013 | 12.4 | About OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4 Update | OS X v10.8.4 Individual update OS X v10.8.4 Combo update |
| 12E3067 | June 10, 2013 | For MacBook Air (Mid 2013) | |||
| 12E4022 | September 25, 2013 | For iMac (Late 2013) | |||
| 10.8.5 | 12F37 | September 12, 2013 | 12.5 | About the OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5 Update | OS X v10.8.5 Individual update OS X v10.8.5 Combo update |
| 12F45 | October 3, 2013 | 12.5 xnu-2050.48.12~1 | About the OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5 Supplemental Update | OS X v10.8.5 Supplemental Update | |
| January 27, 2015 | 12.6 xnu-2050.48.15~1 | About the security content of OS X Yosemite v10.10.2 and Security Update 2015-001 | Security Update 2015-001 Mountain Lion | ||
| 12F2501 | March 9, 2015 | About Security Update 2015-002 | Security Update 2015-002 Mountain Lion | ||
| 12F2518 | April 8, 2015 | 12.6 xnu-2050.48.19~1 | About the security content of Security Update 2015-004 | Security Update 2015-004 Mountain Lion | |
| 12F2542 | June 30, 2015 | About the security content of Security Update 2015-005 | Security Update 2015-005 Mountain Lion | ||
| 12F2560 | August 13, 2015 | About the security content of Security Update 2015-006 | Security Update 2015-006 Mountain Lion |
Note: Combo updates include all previous releases (ex: 10.8 to 10.8.3). Individual update is a smaller package size and can be used if currently using the previous release (ex: 10.8.2 to 10.8.3).
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