Apple shipping times for computer
 

We've been thinking/planning to replace my 9 year old computer for a while (before it fails). The plan has been to replace it with an iMac. I've been watching this year and right after CV hit, the shipping time looked like 2 months which sucked. I think looked a couple/few weeks ago, and shipping time showed only 2 weeks. I looked again this weekend and shipping is back up to 2 months. I'm thinking that this is less about volume and CV delays than maybe Apple just gets their shipment from China monthly or every other month. What a pain in the rear. Also, all local stores are closed per the website and their hours.

Fortunately, the old comp is working, so I'm not desperate.

Look at third parties.
Amazon they are in stock for instance.

Mine came through the work supplier - came in two days.
Only reason that's worth noting is that it was a custom build and apple had it at 2 months when I specced it.

Have you seen the refurbished Mac Pros?
https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac

I've gone the refurb route twice, great machines, same warranty, cheaper

THey've got nothing in the range that I'm looking for. I'd love an iMac Pro, but I'm not looking to spend that much. They've got an iMac Pro for $4249 which is a great discount, but still darn pricey. The cheapest Mac Pro is $11500, ouch!

I'm not looking for a laptop since I want a BIG screen and have my own keyboard.

They’re all over amazon for $1000-1700 with delivery July 15th.
Tony

I'm looking, Best Buy (Blech!), B&H, Adorama, etc... They all have the standard price. When I purchase through Apple, I can get a small discount (almost covers sales tax).

I also don't want a standard build. I want an all SSD vs Fusion drive. I've found some, but they are standard price, and I don't want to throw away the discount.

I've got refurb on lots of stuff before with great results, and I would go refurb on Apple if they had what I was looking for.

If you are looking to buy one off-the-rack (preconfigured) order one and pick it up locally- you can choose when you're gonna show up to pick it up. You check in, and someone in a blue tshirt and a mask comes out and hands it to you. No waiting, none of that.

Got mine in one day, that way.

rjp

Yeah, when I check online, I don't see any local pickup times at any of the local stores.

Also, I want a standard build but with a slightly different from standard HDD, so that's a no-go for getting it anywhere except by special order apparently.

The really crazy thing is that to order it with a 1TB SSD instead of the standard 2TB fusion drive is an extra $300 for what I assume is probably a $100-150 (retail) drive. I understand that upgrading the RAM is DIY, but I don't think HDD are setup to be DIY friendly.

I do not know if apple has a m-2 PCIe slot on a new iMac for the NEW style ssd
but those are way faster then the SATA ssd hd's like 3500 vs 500 mb/s
no wait on most loads firefox took about a minute to load on a old spin hd vs a sec on the m2

the iMac are not that hard to open and swap hd's
you just need a glass suction cup to pull off the screen to access the guts
after a bit of unscrewing trim u-tube has instructions

looks like they do have a PCIe slot in 2017 and up units
that is the the way to go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU13VRi9_j4


btw apple will have a new iMac soon that is why they are low stocking the old ones now

Yeah, I've heard that something new is coming. I've wondered about waiting. When's the usual release, Oct, Nov?

some said July or august on the net

I have no real idea

personally I would do a hackintosh as I hate apple's all in ones
as they are hard to replace bits on
and apple will not give a pin out on a simple thing like a power supply
and all use apple only connectors inc the m-2 drives

installing a m-2 on my i7 box took about a minute total vs 1/2 hour on a iMac

Apple is switching processors - from Intel to ARM. This may well obsolete all your software (I use Lightroom and Microsoftie orifice mostly).

I'd say a refurb is the way to go. The SSD is definitely worth it - much faster than the Fusion (part HDD, part SSD).

a good plan is to wait for one of their regualr 'upgrades' then buy the model before that as a refurb

I bought my last one at the px when they did a sale. Cash and carry as they say.

I'd go that route, but almost all of the iMacs that I see have Fusion drives, or are older models. I'll think about it.

you can add an SSD via the Thumperdolt ports, but I've never done it

Yeah, but that's an extra appendage hanging around, and the OS would be on the Fusion drive. Much better to have the built in drive be right on a SSD.

For those who are/were in the military, Apple offers a 10% discount through their website. Here’s the link https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/veterans_military

Wife’s ROTC came in handy.

That's very cool!

I pulled this link up earlier, and there were 0 iMacs. I think pulled it up a little bit later, and there were about 6-9 27" iMacs. I was browsing through them and several disappeared. Now an hour later they are all gone. I guess folks are looking for a good deal and they don't last.

Don't forget apple doesn't check for school ID when you purchase online and use the education store. No verification whatsoever, per Apple.


They only verify if you buy in-store.

rjp

THAT is good information!

Yup, per Apple themselves - when I was buying my 2020 MBP I tried to simply show up and buy one that day- not knowing about the Coronavirus queues etc- They literally told me they couldn't let me in line since it was so long already.

When I was *****ing about not being able to go in and pay $2K right here, right now- They told me to 'buy online and there's no check for .edu purchases- only when you're in person in the store' meaning only if you didn't order online in any way shape or form.

Ordering and then PU at store no verif required, that's what I did.

Lessened the sting.

rjp

I just bought a computer.

Earlier today, about 9 showed up and within 1-2 hours, all of those were gone. I just sat down and hit refresh and another 5-10 showed up. One of them was exactly what I was looking for. New it would be 2599, refurb it was 2209, then I added a magic pad ($116, so $67 more than with a new PC). Now I'm going to order a RAM upgrade for a fraction of the Apple RAM price. Then I debated for about .1 secs paying the $8 to get express delivery (Wed instead of Thu).

32Gb OWC RAM on the way.