
Second, if you’re a developer who previously downloaded the “golden master” of the Lion installer, the Mac App Store will claim Lion is “Installed” on any Snow Leopard Mac-and thus not let you download the official release-if it detects that installer on any connected volume. First, if you purchased a Mac on or after June 6, 2011, but it didn’t come with Lion pre-installed, you’re entitled to a free copy of Lion.

You purchase Lion through the Mac App Store app. On my cable-model connection the morning of Lion’s release, the download took approximately 39 minutes. Specifically, the 3.8 GB installer application, called Install Mac OS X Lion.app, will be saved to your main Applications folder ( /Applications). After providing your Apple ID and password, the Lion installer icon will be added to the Dock, and Lion will begin downloading. This direct link), click the $29.99 button at the top of the screen, then click the Buy App button that appears. You simply launch the Mac App Store application, click the Lion banner on the store’s main page (or search for Lion, or click

Meet the requirements, getting Lion is easy-with a few caveats, noted below.
