Apple Stores Running Out Of 27-Inch iMacs Ahead Of Rumored Refresh

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It's probably not a good time to buy an iMac.
It's probably not a good time to buy an iMac.

On August 22, it became apparent that retailers across the United States were beginning to see shortages of 27-inch iMacs, sparking speculation that Apple’s popular all-in-one could be about to get a much-anticipated refresh. Now those tight supplies are affecting Apple’s own retail stores, which are quickly running out of both 27-inch iMac iterations.

MacRumors reports that when using Apple’s online Personal Pickup service to survey Apple store stock, it appears the 27-inch iMac is currently unavailable for approximately half of the 249 retail stores across the U.S. Customers have the option to place orders online, but they won’t be able to pick them up from some stores until as late as September 11.

Most of Apple’s Macs are usually available for immediate pickup when reserving through the online store, but for those that aren’t, Apple will ship your order to your local store for pickup within roughly seven days. That’s not the case for the 27-inch iMac, however, which is unavailable for immediate collection at 120 stores across the U.S.

Most stores are quoting a pickup date between September 4 and September 7, but others aren’t expecting new stock until September 11.

What’s interesting is that like third-party retail stores, supplies appear to be tight for Apple’s largest iMac only, with the 21.5-inch model still widely available. According to MacRumors, only seven stores didn’t have this model in stock, but all of them were expecting them in between September 4 and September 7.

When Apple products become difficult to get hold of like this, it usually means one of two things: either Apple is gearing up to discontinue the device, or it’s about to issue a refresh. The first scenario is almost certainly not going to happen for a product as popular as the iMac, which suggests the desktop could soon be about to see an update.

The machine is still awaiting the Intel Ivy Bridge processors that have been introduced to Apple’s notebooks, and some reports have claimed that they will be appearing this October. That’s now looking increasingly likely.

Via: MacRumors

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