Mac OS X Lion at a Glance: What Changed in Version 10.7

Apple history · macOS · Lion

Mac OS X Lion, version 10.7, went on sale on July 20, 2011. Apple called it the eighth major release of Mac OS X and said it brought more than 250 new features. It was also the first major Mac release sold as a download from the Mac App Store, priced at $29.99 in the US.

How you got it

  • Lion was an upgrade for Macs running Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later, bought from the Mac App Store.
  • Apple’s release listed an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, i5, i7 or Xeon processor and 2GB of RAM as requirements.
  • Customers who bought a qualifying new Mac from June 6, 2011 could get Lion at no charge through Apple’s Up-to-Date offer, as long as they requested it in time.

The features people noticed first

Apple’s July 2011 press release highlighted these changes:

  • Multi-Touch gestures borrowed from iOS for scrolling, swiping and zooming.
  • Full-screen apps, letting a single app take over the display.
  • Mission Control, combining Exposé, Spaces, Dashboard and full-screen apps in one view.
  • Launchpad, an iOS-style grid of installed apps.
  • Mac App Store built in, and a redesigned Mail.
  • Resume, which reopens apps the way you left them.
  • Auto Save and Versions, which save documents continuously and keep a browsable history.
  • AirDrop, which sets up a peer-to-peer wireless connection to nearby Macs for file transfers.

Natural scrolling and other debates

Not every change was popular. Lion reversed the default scrolling direction so that content moves with your fingers, the way it does on a touch screen. Wikipedia’s article on Lion records that natural scrolling, hidden scroll bars and the new Auto Save and Revert workflow drew criticism at launch, along with changes to Exposé and Spaces. Natural scrolling stuck around and is still the default on the Mac today.

What it meant for Mac developers

Lion pushed Mac apps closer to iOS habits. Users started to expect apps to restore their state on relaunch, save without a Save command, and work well in full screen, and the Mac App Store became a mainstream way to sell Mac software. Combined with the iCloud announcements made at WWDC 2011, it marked the start of the Mac and iOS sharing more ideas with every release.

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