[Enlightened1]

iOS and OS X are both free now.

“Just like 10.9 Mavericks and the other Apple operating systems, the public is expecting to get the new OS X Yosemite upgrade for free for compatible Apple devices.”

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/os.x.yosemite.update.oct.21.release.date.coincide.new.apple.ipads/41012.htm

[adorno]

When it comes to iOS and Maverick being "free", nothing could be further from the truth.

With any Apple device, the OS is included in the price when the PC or tablet or smartphone is sold. IOW, included in the original price. Apple DOES NOT sell its OSes separately, and the only upgrade paths are from originally sold devices. Apple's OSes are, essentially, sold as components of the original devices. A component adds to the price of the device, and Apple's devices are generally sold at higher prices than most others, and the "OS as a component" is the reason why.

Most people are deceived into believing that an included OS is included for "free", and that's not always true, especially when it comes to Apple. Even Android is NOT FREE. Google gets the value of the OS extracted from consumers when they turn those consumers into the "Google product that is sold via advertising in those devices".

Free comes with a price, and sometimes, that price is much higher than a regular price at the retail level.