Apple is reportedly nearing the finish line with its work on the Mac OS X 10.5.7 update after seven weeks of extensive testing. Build 9J47 was released on Friday, less than one week after 9J44, and build 9J50 is said to have been made available for developers on Tuesday. Given the rapid distribution, along with a decreasing number of fixes per-build, it is suspected that 10.5.7 is on the verge of being made public.

Among the documented 108 code corrections, build 9J47 only contributed three, including a fix for Ethernet performance on Mac Pro systems and a correction to Mac OS X's handling of login item preferences. Meanwhile, Build 9J50, released less than 24 hours ago, supposedly resolves a single issue involving Bluetooth personal area networks.

In addition to the dwindling number of fixes, customers are reporting that Apple has bumped the ship date on previously ordered ATI Radeon 4850-equipped iMacs to this week, providing the foundation for a rumor suggesting the 4850 requires 10.5.7.