The wait resets: New 27-inch iMacs to ship in January
The revised date stretches out the waiting time for Apple's updated desktop from the previous estimate of three to four weeks.
The 27-inch iMac now has a vague ship date of January, not exactly an improvement over the previous estimate.
Unveiled in October, the 27-inch iMac popped up for preorder on Apple's online retail site on November 30. The initial ship time was pegged at two to three weeks, but that shot up to three to four weeks after just a few hours.
Three to four weeks after November 30 takes us to December 21 to December 28. That estimate already meant the 27-inch iMac wouldn't make it on the shopping lists of holidays buyers. And now a fuzzy forecast of January means it will be delayed even further, perhaps not even available until late next month.
The news shouldn't come as a big surprise.
At Apple's fourth-quarter earnings call on October 25, CEO Tim Cook warned that supplies of the iMac would be "constrained" the rest of the year, leading to a "signficant shortage."
The 21-inch model has so far avoided the severe delays affecting its bigger brother. Apple currently lists the ship time for the smaller iMac at 7 to 10 days.
