Apple delays new Mac OS to finish work on iPhone

The much-hyped iPhone is apparently more important to Apple Inc. than the company’s desktop operating system, such that Apple announced it will delay the release of its Leopard OS from June to October because of the extra work required to hit the iPhone’s release date.
“iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned. We can’t wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is,” Apple said in a press release that was surprising in its conversational, straightforward tone. “However, iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price-we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA (quality assurance) resources from our Mac OS X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned.”
Apple said Leopard, its new operating system for its Mac computers, will be available in October.
Apple makes Mac computers as well as the popular iPod digital music player. The company earlier this year announced plans to get into the cellphone market with its iPhone, a touch-screen device that will play music and video. Apple said the iPhone will sell for $500 to $600 through AT&T Inc.’s Cingular Wireless.