Is it normal for a brand new MBP to be ~3 minor versions behind the latest macOS when leaving the factory?

[ordiple]

I've just got my brand new 16" M1 Max(10/24/16)/2TB MBP which was shipped directly from Apple's plant in Shanghai earlier this week. The order was placed at the end of March, the delay was expected due to the lockdown, but still the delivery was speedy (I'm in China).

The battery cycle count is 3 when unboxed, which seems normal nowadays. However, I don't understand why this MBP comes with macOS 12.2.1, which I believe was released back in early February, and three more minor versions (12.3, 12.3.1, 12.4) have been released after that.

Just wondering if this is normal... I'm slightly worried that it might have been returned by a previous owner.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Depends on when it was created, packaged, etc so yeah and it would be illegal to sell a used product as new something I'm sure Apple want's no part of.

 

[DeltaMac]

Likely that the shipping delays also means that some systems were packed a few months ago, but just not available to ship until very recently. The factory probably does not open up packed systems just to load an update.
If the MBPro was "returned by a previous owner", it will go through a refurbishing process, and you would know because you would have paid a bit less than new retail price. (and would not go back to the factory to do that)
It's new, and not so unusual to ship without the very latest system, even on a custom order such as yours
Update the system, use your MBPro.