Preorder some heavily loaded configurations of the newly announced M3 MacBook Pro models and you’ll be waiting until later in November to receive them. But Apple still has plenty of other configurations ready to go on launch day.
The same is true for the new M3-powered iMac — load it up and the result is a somewhat longer wait.
Patience needed for high-end M3 MacBook Pro
Apple’s “Scary Fast” event on October 30 brought the M3 processor family, as well as a new versions of the 14- and 16-inch Mac Book Pro notebooks and iMac desktops to run the chips.
Preorders began immediately after Monday’s announcement, and two days later the pre-launch supply is apparently starting to thin.
On Wednesday, the online Apple store is ready to deliver a 14-inch version with the basic M3, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD ($1599) on November 7. That’s launch day — the earliest customers can get their hands on the product.
But increase the RAM to 16GB and the wait jumps to November 15. Add more storage and the earliest delivery date slips to November 21.
As for the newest 16-inch version of the MacBook Pro, the $2,499 base model with M3 Pro, 18GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD is available on November 7. But almost any change pushes the arrival date back to November 22.
And there’s already an additional wait for any M3 Max version of the 16-inch MacBook Pro. The one with 36GB of RAM and 1TB of storage ($3,499) isn’t available until November 13. Go “all in” and a tricked-out version ($7,199) arrives on November 22.
Some delays for M3 iMac, too
Photo: Apple
The situation is similar for the M3-powered iMac. Order a base model from the online Apple store on Wednesday, like the $1,299 version with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and it’ll be delivered November 7. Increase the RAM to 16GB and the earliest delivery date slips to November 15.
The longest wait is for more heavily loaded versions. For example, configure the all-in-one desktop with the Apple M3 with an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, additional USB and Ethernet ports and 24GB of RAM and you’ll be waiting until at least November 30 and the delivery could be December 7.
Anyone struggling to make up their mind about putting their money down should read the Cult of Mac guide on whether you should buy the new MacBook Pro or iMac.
