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Verizon, AT&T iPad Mini Retina backordered, ship dates lag

Verizon and AT&T are backordered on the cellular models of the iPad Mini Retina. AT&T is stating a minimum of three weeks.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers
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You'll have to wait to the get cellular versions of the iPad Mini Retina from Verizon and AT&T.
You'll have to wait to the get cellular versions of the iPad Mini Retina from Verizon and AT&T. Verizon

Verizon and AT&T are both backordered on the cellular versions of the iPad Mini Retina, possibly another indication of the supply constraints for the new Apple tablet.

Verizon says the Mini Retina with "wireless and cellular" is on "back-order" and "will ship by 11/25."

AT&T says the iPad Mini Retina "with Wi-Fi + Cellular will ship in 21-28 business days."

In contrast, Apple's Web page shows five to 10 days for cellular versions from those two carriers.

That said, cellular models are typically not available for personal pickup in-store from Apple currently while Wi-Fi-only models usually are.

And availability also contrasts with the iPad Air sales launch. When Apple started selling the iPad Air on November 1, it was available at Verizon, AT&T, and other carriers on the same day.

Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, told CNET on Tuesday that she expects, on the low end, production of about 2 million Mini Retina tablets in the fourth calendar quarter. But that Apple could possibly up that to 4 million. If shipments skew toward the low end, that's "not a lot," she said, considering the numbers sold in past iPad launches over the same period of time.

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KGI Securities also offered a forecast of just under 2.3 million Retina Mini units in the fourth quarter.

The iPad Air, on the other hand, is expected to see shipments of more than 10 million in the fourth quarter, but that will drop off sharply to 6 million in the first quarter of 2014 as Retina Mini supply catches up to demand.

The new Mini sports a 2,048x1,536 resolution display that boasts 326 pixels per inch -- one of the highest of any tablet to date. Analysts believe the display has been a challenge to make in the large volumes that Apple demands.

And in a related note, an iPad Mini Retina availability tracker can be found -- of all places -- at seaturtle.org (courtesy of AppleInsider), an organization founded to "support research and conservation efforts in the sea turtle community."

Interestingly, the site provides a decent tracker (also in grid mode) for Apple devices in the U.S.

The graphic on the AT&T iPad Mini Retina page for the cellular version.
The graphic on the AT&T iPad Mini Retina page for the cellular version. AT&T