Apple has slightly improved shipping times for some Apple Watch models with almost all 42mm versions of its mid-range stainless steel Apple Watch now shipping as early as June, up from a previous shipping estimate of July.
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Shipping times for the new 27″ iMac with 5K Retina Display have improved from 2-3 weeks yesterday to just 1-2 weeks today. It’s a small improvement, but it’s certainly better than nothing with the holidays right around the corner.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus also saw a drop in shipping times. Many models saw improved shipping times at the end of last month, but now almost all color, size, model, and carrier combinations are available to ship in just 3-5 days. The only exceptions to this are the 128 GB versions, which are all limited to the 7-10 day range.
The iPhone 6 Plus has suffered from stock constraints since it launched, and that isn’t expected to improve for some time, although things do seem to be slowly improving as the months tick by. Hopefully these new shipping times will help plenty of buyers get their hands on one in time for the holiday season.
Apple has improved shipping times on several iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models ahead of the holidays, especially in the 16 GB range. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 previously required 7 to 10 days to ship after being ordered, but that number has now dropped to just 5 to 7 days. Shipping times for the 64 and 128 GB models remains unchanged, however.
The 16 GB iPhone 6 Plus also saw an improvement, with the larger model now shipping in just 7 to 10 days. Unlike the smaller handset, the 64 and 128 GB versions of the 6 Plus are also getting reduced shipping times at 2 to 3 weeks (down from 3 to 4 weeks before that).
While most versions of the iPad mini with Retina display have been shipping in 5-10 days for a few weeks, the last two holdout models have finally dropped as well. The 16 GB and 32 GB Wi-Fi version of the recently-updated tablet, which were shipping in 1-3 business days just a few hours ago, have now dropped to the same shipping time as the rest of the lineup.
This doesn’t bode well for holiday shoppers looking to score a Retina iPad mini, since shipping times will likely continue to lag as the holiday demand ramps up.
The iPhone 5s launch was initially plagued by constrained supply and lagging shipping times, but in the past few weeks those issues have been alleviated as shipping times dropped significantly. The shipping times have dropped yet again, this time to only 3-5 days. This is down quite a bit from the previous 2-3 weeks required to ship.
This is an especially welcome update for those buying iPhones as gifts this holiday season, although shipping times of 24 hours, which iPhone 5c buyers have enjoyed since the phone launched, would be ideal for last-minute shoppers.
Update: Apple appears to have changed shipping times once again since we originally posted this article. The blue and green unlocked 16GB models are now listed as shipping by September 25 alongside the white, pink & yellow models.
Update 2: Now including 32GB models, all unlocked, non-T-Mobile iPhone 5c units shipping Sep. 25.
After opening up preorders for the iPhone 5c through its online stores and a number of carrier and retail partners three days ago, Apple is beginning to sell out of several models and continuing to push back shipping times.
We reported last week that the unlocked 16GB version of the yellow iPhone 5c was the first to sellout with shipping times slipping to September 25, and all models of the new colourful iPhone were shipping in 1-2 weeks through Apple’s Hong Kong website. Today shipping times on several models in the U.S. have slipped from the expected Sept 20 release date to as late as October 4th.
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Apple’s Mac mini shipping times have slipped from 24 hours to 5-7 days, MacRumors notes. The change occurred today as a Bing Search cache points to 24 hour shipping times as of yesterday.
The slip in shipping times currently appears exclusive to the Mac mini, in multiple Apple Online Stores, as Apple’s other Macs are still showing the typical 24 hour times to ship.
While a slip in shipping times does not confirm an imminent update, Apple’s Mac mini was last updated in October of last year and lacks the current Intel Haswell chipset. The last major redesigned of the computer occurred in mid-2010.
The slip also comes at a time in which Apple is rumored to be preparing Haswell-based MacBook Pro and iMac models for release in the coming months. MacBook Airs with Haswell chips debuted in June.
After improving to “3-5 days” shipping time in most major markets late last month, the iPad mini is today listed as in stock for all models in at least the United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Canada. Some other stores, such as the United Kingdom’s online store, is still quoting an estimated shipping time of “1-3 business days”, but Apple’s listing of the device as in stock in the U.S. likely means the company is starting to catch up with demand. At Apple’s earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the iPad mini remains constrained and high in demand. He also noted that Apple would significantly increase the supply but wasn’t sure if it would reach a supply/demand balance on iPad mini during the current quarter.
“we sold 23 million iPads, we obviously could have sold more than this because we could not build enough iPad minis to come into a demand balance… Im sure there was some cannibalization of Macs there.”
We told you last month that shipping times for Apple’s new 21.5-inch iMacs slipped from an estimated delivery of 7 to 10 business days to 2 to 3 weeks. Today, iMacs are continuing to experience supply shortages with shipping times on many international Apple Stores once again pushed back. As noted by French language blog macg.co, Apple’s online store is now listing the 21.5-inch iMac as shipping in 3 to 4 weeks and the 27-inch model as available in 4 to 6 weeks in at least France. While Apple has yet to update its U.S. website with the new shipping times, Apple stores in Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands, and many other European Union countries are now listing the longer wait times for new iMacs.
We heard that Apple expects to reach a supply and demand balance for the new iMacs (and iPad mini) within the next couple of months, but CEO Tim Cook recently noted that supply constraints will most likely continue into Q1. The same thing goes for Apple’s new iPad mini that, as of this week, is now shipping with an improved delivery time of 1 to 3 business days in at least the U.S. and Canada: