How to: Get a free copy of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

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How to: Get a free copy of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

23 May 2011 4,395 views 5 Comments

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Last week, we told you how to get a model specific copy of Mac OS 9 Classic for your older Mirrored Drive Door or Quicksilver PowerMac G4. Now, here’s how Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger users can get a free copy of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard so they can sync their new iPhone, iPod touch or iPad via iTunes 10.

… if you find yourself … with a new iOS device that requires Leopard/iTunes 10 for sync support, but still running Tiger on your Intel Mac … call AppleCare … Apple’s support team will ask you for your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch serial number… and then send you a copy of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, free of charge — TUAW.

I’m guessing every Apple fan boy capable of speaking with a forked will be trying to get a free copy of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Thereupon, assuming you’re in real need of Mac OS X Leopard to sync your new idevice to an Intel Mac that shipped with Tiger, be prepared to be both patient and persistent.

And, again, if you’ve got a Mirrored Drive Door or Quicksilver PowerMac, it’s possible to get a free copy of the machine-specific Mac OS 9 build you need to run Classic on those legacy Macs.

Have a happy tale of Apple done right? Share your story and a link in the comments below…

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5 Comments »

Weili said:

Yay… a free copy of a 4 year old operating system that will soon be two full versions behind.

# 23 May 2011 at 11:42 am

Mark M. Florida said:

Weili, Leopard is still a very capable OS and is still getting updates by Apple (security and application updates, if not full-fledged OS updates). Plus, if someone has an Intel Mac that shipped with Tiger, and they get Leopard for free, they can then upgrade to Snow Leopard for $29 and be totally up-to-date.

# 24 May 2011 at 8:29 am

kbear said:

I called applecare and tried and it didnt work. is there a magic password or something?!

# 2 June 2011 at 11:24 am

Brandon said:

I just tried and they wont let you because they stop making leapard but that doesent make it where you can buy it. the only way to get it is to buy it from a store or somthing like that.

# 8 August 2011 at 2:53 pm