Release record
Puma
Release notes
Editorial synthesis with inline references and a source ledger when citations are available.
Mac OS X 10.1 was Apple's first major Mac OS X upgrade. The local Public route is dated September 25, 2001, when Apple announced the finished release at Seybold; Apple's announcement scheduled broad retail and free in-store upgrade distribution for Saturday, September 29, while contemporaneous reporting records upgrade CDs at Apple's conference booth that week.[1][2]
The release concentrated on responsiveness across launches, menus, windows, copying, startup, login, Classic, OpenGL, and Java. Aqua gained a Dock that could sit on three screen edges, system status controls in the menu bar, and automatic file-extension management.[3][4]
Finder gained data CD and supported DVD-R burning, DVD Player added movie playback on compatible hardware, and iTunes plus iMovie 2 moved into the installation. The system audio architecture added high-resolution, multichannel, low-latency, and MIDI capabilities.[5][6]
Image Capture automated photo transfer from supported cameras. Printing gained more vendor drivers, automatic inkjet setup, and a large PostScript PPD set; OpenGL was updated with GeForce3 support, and ColorSync 4.0 revised ICC color management.[7][8]
An integrated SMB/CIFS client joined AFP, NFS, and WebDAV access, making Windows file networking a first-class client scenario. iDisk moved to WebDAV, and AppleScript improvements added SOAP and XML internet-scripting support.[9][10]
Apple's retained early-security chronology places a substantial set of corrections under the exact Mac OS X 10.1 heading. They cover crontab, fetchmail, ipfw and TCP sequence generation, Java applet isolation, the open system call, OpenSSL, procmail, rwhod, setlocale, sort, tcpdump, tcsh, telnetd, and timed. The structured records group closely related component boundaries without projecting later 10.1.x or October security-update content backward.[11]
Apple offered existing owners a shipped $19.95 Up-To-Date kit and a temporary free retail kit, while new customers could buy the $129 US full product. Broad retail availability began September 29. The supported-hardware list required 128MB of memory and named Apple's then-current G3 and G4 Mac families.[12][13]
On September 25 Apple reported more than 1,400 native applications available for 10.1 and highlighted support from major software and peripheral vendors. Those figures and endorsements are launch context supplied by Apple and its partners, not an independent compatibility audit.[14]
Apple previewed 10.1 in July, but the local catalog has no prerelease route for this version; preview text is used only where the September announcement confirms the shipped capability. Mac OS X Server 10.1 was a separate product, and later client point releases or the October 19 security update are not attached to this initial Public event.[15][16][17][18]
Source ledger
Sources are linked to the claims they support. Publication and access dates are shown when available.
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · September 25 announcement and September 29 retail date
TidBITS · TidBITS Staff · 2001-09-26T00:00:00.000Z · Seybold booth and September 29 distribution
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-07-18T00:00:00.000Z · Final-confirmed performance and interface details
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · Performance and Aqua paragraphs
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · Digital Hub, DVD, bundled applications, and audio
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-07-18T00:00:00.000Z · Final-confirmed Digital Hub details
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · Camera ecosystem context
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · Image Capture, printing, OpenGL, and ColorSync
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-07-18T00:00:00.000Z · Final-confirmed network and scripting details
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · Networking, iDisk, and scripting
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · Mac OS X 10.1 security entry
TidBITS · TidBITS Staff · 2001-09-26T00:00:00.000Z · CD-only upgrade and September 29 availability
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · Pricing & Availability and requirements
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · September 25 application-ecosystem announcement
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-07-18T00:00:00.000Z · July preview scope
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · Mac OS X 10.1 versus later 10.1 security-update entries
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · September 25 separate Server 10.1 announcement
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · September client-release scope
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · Application and device ecosystem
TidBITS · TidBITS Staff · 2001-09-26T00:00:00.000Z · Contemporaneous distribution detail
Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · Initial 10.1 security content
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-07-18T00:00:00.000Z · July 18 preview
Apple Newsroom · Apple · 2001-09-25T00:00:00.000Z · Separate Server 10.1 boundary
Documented & observed
Source-linked features, fixes, known issues, removals, and community-observed behavior recorded across this version’s appearances and verified builds.
Release changes
Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.
developerApi · introduced
Apple documented these capabilities as an operating-system audio foundation rather than a guarantee that every application or device used the maximum format.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple's chronology identifies separate proxy-observation and clipboard-access boundaries under the initial release.
Recorded at Public
compatibility · changed
The protocol set broadened client connectivity across Mac, Windows, Linux, UNIX, AppleShare, and web-based storage environments.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple grouped three upstream fetchmail issues under the initial 10.1 security content; this occurrence keeps them together at their shared component boundary.
Recorded at Public
compatibility · introduced
Apple presented SMB/CIFS support as the main change making the Mac a direct participant on Windows networks.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple tied the correction to the FreeBSD crontab advisory and described the attacker boundary as another local user.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple described both issues as remote denial-of-service conditions against clients of the affected network daemons.
Recorded at Public
developerApi · changed
The update connected desktop automation to web-service technologies while strengthening AppleScript integration across the operating system.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
The documented boundary is local cross-user access rather than remote code execution.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
Apple scoped playback to systems with a DVD-ROM drive and AGP graphics and described a simplified player interface.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
Apple described the revision as more efficient and better able to remain connected from school, business, and corporate-firewall environments.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
Apple reported applications launching two to three times faster, menus and window resizing up to five times faster, and file copies up to twice as fast in its own testing. Those multipliers remain explicitly vendor-reported rather than independent benchmarks.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
The public release brought optical-data writing into Finder. DVD-R support remained hardware-dependent; music-CD support was associated with iTunes.
Recorded at Public
behavior · introduced
Apple described the feature as automated file-extension management across common file workflows without publishing a format-by-format behavior table.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
The packaging change made Apple's music-management and movie-editing applications part of the standard installation path.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
The change revised the system's 3D software path and explicitly supported the then-current GeForce3 hardware.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple's retained chronology confirms the updated version but does not enumerate the individual OpenSSL issues on the page, so this occurrence stays at package level.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
The new status items provided quicker access to frequently used system settings and live connection or power information.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
The update advanced the system color-management layer for publishing and imaging workflows.
Recorded at Public
compatibility · changed
The September 25 announcement scheduled broad store availability for September 29. Existing owners could obtain a $19.95 shipped kit or, while supplies lasted, a free retail kit through October 31; the full US retail product remained $129.
Recorded at Public
enhancement · changed
The update responded to a frequently requested customization by allowing the Dock to move from the bottom edge to either side of the screen.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple's chronology describes potential exploitation through setlocale string overflows, disruption of administration tools through sort, and an unprivileged-user overwrite condition in tcsh. The shell operator is not repeated because the retained entry's title and explanation use inconsistent notation.
Recorded at Public
feature · introduced
The bundled application automated camera photo downloads, while Apple separately described broader out-of-box support for consumer camera models.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple identifies the upstream advisory and the component boundary without making a broader Mail application claim.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
Apple described a remote packet source affecting the local capture process and preserved possible code execution as a qualified outcome.
Recorded at Public
compatibility · changed
Apple named iMac, iBook, Power Macintosh G3, Power Mac G4, Power Mac G4 Cube, and PowerBook models introduced after May 1998.
Recorded at Public
compatibility · changed
The package added drivers from HP, Canon, and Epson plus PPD files for more than 200 PostScript printers from HP, Lexmark, and Xerox.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
The occurrence preserves the service-account privilege boundary stated by Apple and does not imply the service was enabled by default.
Recorded at Public
security · fixed
The two network-stack corrections addressed a remotely constructed firewall attack condition and insufficient randomness in connection sequence numbers.
Recorded at Public
Milestones
Every recorded channel appearance in chronological order. Open an appearance for any available build, scope, notes, and sources.
Public release
The catalog anchors Mac OS X 10.1 to Apple's September 25, 2001 announcement and limited conference-week distribution; broad retail and free store pickup began September 29, bringing major performance, interface, media, networking, peripheral, scripting, and security changes.
Historical context
Pace, intervals, and duration compared with earlier releases on the same platform.
Historical avg for .1 releases
67 days, 7.5 milestones
Based on 2 previous macOS .1 releases
| Version | Year | Cycle | Milestones | Avg. Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| macOS 26.1 | 2025 | 42d | 6 | 8d |
| macOS 15.1 | 2024 | 91d | 9 | 11d |
Scroll horizontally to compare every historical field.