Some Macs ordered today from the Apple Store with any set of features beyond the base configuration won’t arrive for over a month. For example, the wait for a made-to-order 16-inch MacBook Pro stretches into mid-March.
Purchase this 16-inch macOS laptop with a 2.6GHz processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage and it can ship to you immediately. Change anything about the configuration and and the delivery date slips to March 10, more than four weeks from now.
A top-of-line 13-inch MacBook Pro with upgrades will arrive on the same date.
And it’s not just laptops. A customized 21.5-inch non-4K iMac also can’t be delivered before March 10.
Apple hasn’t yet commented on a reason for these lengthy wait times for some of its computers. There has been speculation online that it’s a result of the coronavirus crisis spreading in China, where most Macs are assembled. Some factories there have begun shutting down in hopes of containing the outbreak.
Not every made-to-order Mac is delayed
Every customized Mac ordered from the Apple Store won’t put customers through such long wait times. Though there is a wait.
Configure either of the two cheaper versions of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with additional RAM or storage and it’ll arrive between Feb. 24 and Feb. 26. Again, the base models are available today.
A MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is available immediately. Upgrade either of those and the unit ships sometime between Feb. 21 and Feb. 25.
A 27-inch iMac arrives between Feb. 20 and Feb. 24. The tiny Mac mini is also seeing delays, with made-to-order units being delivered between Feb. 24 and Feb. 26.
The wait for a Mac Pro is shorter, almost certainly because it’s made in the US. Order a this powerful desktop today and it’ll be available between Feb. 18 and Feb. 20.
