AppleInsider Staff
Estimated shipping times for Apple's thinner iMac continue to slip, as the 27-inch model is now advertised to arrive in Europe in 4 to 6 weeks, while the 21.5-inch model has been delayed to between 3 and 4 weeks.
The delays apply to both iMac models, as the 21.5-inch variety was previously advertised to ship in 2 to 3 weeks, while the 27-inch model was available in 3 to 4 weeks. News of the delays surfacing in France were first reported on Monday by MacGeneration.
The delays do not yet affect Apple's U.S. online store, though if recent trends are any indication, the new estimated shipping times will be reflected in the company's American store in due time.
Shipping times for the smaller 21.5-inch model also began slipping late last month to between 2 and 3 weeks. The updates to Apple's European online stores on Monday suggest that the company continues to see production problems with its redesigned iMac.
Those problems have persisted since the new iMacs first went on sale in December. In the holiday quarter, Apple's Mac sales dropped 17 percent, a decrease the company attributed to severe constraints on the new, thinner iMacs.
Continued setbacks for the iMac also cast into doubt a recent rumor that claimed Apple's suppliers had solved their production problems. However, some 21.5- and 27-inch iMac units did begin trickling into Apple's reseller channels last week.
That trend has continued in the U.S., as reseller MacConnection reflects availability of all 4 standard retail configurations as of Monday with an instant $20 discount per model. A handful of other custom configurations are also popping in and out of stock at other retailers, as can be seen below in our price guide snippet:
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55 Comments
Hmmm, this entire refresh has been badly botched which is such a shame, It's a beautiful machine. Hopefully they will refresh it sometime this year with a retina display so that I can upgrade my 2010 27" iMac.
Of course, if they screw up the refresh dates again a refresh might not be due until mid/end 2014.
They should have released a spec bump with Ivy Bridge in June last year, then release the slim version with Haswell. Apple has recently lost the "available today" magic of the Steve Jobs era.
[quote name="saarek" url="/t/155786/imac-shipping-times-lengthen-again-in-europe-as-supply-issues-remain#post_2270779"]Hmmm, this entire refresh has been badly botched which is such a shame, It's a beautiful machine. Hopefully they will refresh it sometime this year with a retina display so that I can upgrade my 2010 27" iMac. Of course, if they screw up the refresh dates again a refresh might not be due until mid/end 2014. [/quote] Agreed. Apple really needs to do a better job of aligning its product announcements with ability to execute on delivery.
If only the guy in charge was a supply-chain wizard huh?
Two questions 1. Is the same true of Apple's brick and mortar stores is just online 2. Is the issue really supply quality or high demand that is exceeding supply such that Apple wants to under promise so they don't get folks griping because they can't deliver when they said. These units are by their admission hand calibrated etc so that means they will take a little longer to put together. Was this perhaps the 'production issue' that the analysts were talking about and not some quality control in a part like they wanted it to sound. Seems to me that the fact that folks are ordering the iMacs is the key item. If they were such crap no one would be buying them and the online stores etc wouldn't have wait times getting longer and longer.