Mac App Store rumored to hit next week

The latest Apple scuttlebutt is that the company is scrambling hard behind the scenes to launch a new iPhone-like App Store for its home computer platform, and plans to have it ready for prime time by next Tuesday.

Apple blog AppleTell is reporting that developers are being told to prepare for the imminent launch, saying some were told to be ready for it to go live as early as today.

Apple is reportedly well ahead of schedule with the new digital software store. It was previously suggested that a Mac App Store wouldn’t be available until a sweeping change to the Mac OS X operating system was issued, which wouldn’t be until next year.

Now it looks as though Apple wants to get it out there as quickly as possible, and with a December 13 launch it could still grab some of the holiday crowds.

Apple has confirmed the existence of the Mac App Store when it teased the idea in October. It didn’t give a firm launch date then, but now it sure looks like it’s ready.

Knowing Apple, we won’t have an official word on when the Mac App Store will launch, until it actually launches. To that end, if the rumors are true, expect there to be some sort of Apple press event on December 13.