Mac OS X Mavericks Will Arrive in Late-October, Report Says [u]

Apple’s latest desktop operating system, Mac OS X Mavericks, won’t arrive until late October, despite earlier speculation about a tandem launch with iOS 7, 9to5Mac reports.

Citing people familiar with the launch plans, Mark Gurman says that the October release of Mavericks is planned so Apple’s software engineering team can focus on the release of iOS 7, the next big step in the company’s history.

While the iPhone event is already officially scheduled for September 10, followed by another Apple event in Beijing the next day, some people familiar with the matter say the company is behind schedule, which could push the iPad version back, maybe until the launch of the iPad 5 and second-generation iPad mini. In other words, iOS 7, which is scheduled to arrive this fall — maybe September 20, the rumoured date of the iPhone 5S and 5C release — will likely be iPhone-only, just like the iOS 7 beta 1.

If Apple follows its Mac OS X Lion and Mountain Lion release pattern, we can expect the release right after the company’s quarterly earnings, which is usually scheduled for late October.

Mac OS X Mavericks will include multi-monitor support, a faster Safari, Maps, and iBooks apps, as well as a redesigned Calendar application, among other improvements.

Update: AllThingsD confirms OS X Mavericks coming in October.

Sources say Mavericks will arrive at market sometime in late October, well after the release of iOS 7, a redesigned version of Apple’s mobile operating system whose development has taxed the company’s engineering resources.