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m1 max MacBook pro waiting period

mrwiggles2.0

mrwiggles2.0

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 13, 2022
2
0
Hey all,

I'm stuck and need your advice. I ordered my m1 max MacBook pro (64GB ram upgrade + Final Cut Pro) on the 12th of December 2021 and guess what, I am still waiting. I'm sure you all can understand how frustrated I must be and don't get me wrong, I completely get the why or the possible reason for the delay (I have done my research thoroughly). I am stuck with that I placed a deposit of 1000chf (swiss francs) to secure my order as the purchase price was close to 5000chf (swiss francs) and it's been close to 4 months of waiting. Yesterday, I received an email asking whether I wanted to withdraw the order and get my deposit back. The problem I have with this is if I cancel it now, then what. If I place a new order at a later stage, will I then wait even longer? I specifically ordered this mac for work purposes.

What would you do in my situation?

Looking forward to your responses.

Have a great day!
 
mrwiggles2.0 said:
I ordered my m1 max MacBook pro
Click to expand...

On the U.S. Apple store the 64 GB 16" Pro shows a delivery date of June 2-17. Your options are:

1. Cancel. If you place a new order you will be put at the end of queue.
2. See if you can find your configuration at an Apple store. Since it is custom it is unlikely
3. Check availability via other outlets. Might luck out if someone orders and doesn't want.

Other wise you'll just have to wait. Lots of us doing that these days.
 
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HDFan said:
On the U.S. Apple store the 64 GB 16" Pro shows a delivery date of June 2-17. You options are:

1. Cancel. If you place a new order you will be put at the end of queue.
2. See if you can find your configuration at an Apple store. Since it is custom it is unlikely
3. Check availability via other outlets. Might luck out if someone orders and doesn't want.

Other wise you'll just have to wait. Lots of us doing that these days.
Click to expand...
This is really helpful as I was thinking about the queuing part too. I ordered mine via MediaMarkt in Switzerland as I know the apple store would probably give the same waiting period.

Thanks again!
 
In the UK, there are some MacBook Pros in Apple's refurbished section, including some with 64GB.

The Swiss equivalent doesn't have as much choice, but you could keep an eye on that to see if something with an appropriate configuration came up.
 
brosenz said:
Your best option is to go retail, Apple Store usually has stock of some configurations, they do have a Max 64G/4T option that gets stocked at the store.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I did. I made the mistake of ordering devices online a few times and waiting for months while I noticed people were picking up the same exact configurations as I ordered in the stores - left and right. So, now, I learned how to check my local apple store's stock via the Apple Website, then go pick up what I want when it's in stock.

Of course this is here in California. I imagine Switzerland is different? Can't hurt. What I do is go to Apple.com, click on the device I want (as if I'm going to buy it), make sure location is set and the store I want set, then go all the way to the point where you add the device to your cart. Usually there's text that states whether or not the device is in stock or not:


Not in stock:
1650132543334.png


Vs, in stock:
1650132566840.png
 
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Just curious. Why are you and others ordering through a third party (MediaMarkt) instead of directly through Apple? Is the price discounted? I also thought it odd that they require a deposit. I thought the normal procedure was to simply get your credit card details and charge the full amount once it ships.

In any case, I'm sorry you've been waiting for so many months!
 
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apple keeps stock of base and near-top-end models. I couldn't wait for a build-to-order, so I picked up a 64gb model from the apple store, even though I only need 32. Not sure what specs you are looking for, but you may have that as an option.
 
usagora said:
Just curious. Why are you and others ordering through a third party (MediaMarkt) instead of directly through Apple? Is the price discounted? I also thought it odd that they require a deposit. I thought the normal procedure was to simply get your credit card details and charge the full amount once it ships.

In any case, I'm sorry you've been waiting for so many months!
Click to expand...
When I ordered mine from bhphotovideo.com I bought a laptop that was in stock and ready to ship, so no waiting. If you have to wait then it’s probably better just to order through Apple
 
I'd advise looking at Amazon. That's what I did. I ordered from Apple on March 30th with a delivery date listed of April 14-22. On April 14 I got the notification that there was a delay and it was now end of May/Start of June.

Amazon UK and Amazon stores in Europe have the MBPs in stock. Only issue is you can't customise them much at all. Basically, Space Grey or Silver and 512gb or 1TB SSD. But they're there in stock. Like car dealers do, they buy a load of these devices in the most common config ready for consumers to buy. And the MBPs on Amazon have as much as 14% off retail. They're legit, they're in Amazon's Apple Store. I bought an MBP on Thursday last and it will be delivered this Wednesday. I also ordered a pair of AirPods Max from Amazon last week and they were delivered Saturday.

As said, there are no worries with Amazon. It's all legit, the devices are new and sealed obviously and any deals Apple has like 6 months free Apple Music with the APM is included as well when buying from Amazon. I bought my iPad Pro from Amazon a couple of years ago and same thing, money off, great delivery times.

I just checked the US Amazon and you can see most M1 MBPs versions are available with 6-10 day delivery.

www.amazon.com

Apple: All models

All models
www.amazon.com
 
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I ordered a Macbook Pro with M1 Max, 4TB SSD and 64 GB RAM mid-November. The delivery date was pushed back from end of December, to first week of 2022, second week, fifth week, end of February, mid-March and then to early May / June before I had enough and cancelled the order.

Went ahead and ordered an M1 Pro with 2TB and 32 GB instead that had a delivery time of 1-2 weeks in the Apple Store at the time
of placing my order. On the first day of the delivery window, it was pushed back by two weeks and in case they will delay it again, I will probably cancel the order as well and skip the M1 Pro/Max processors completely.

I‘m at least as disappointed as you with the situation. Apple should rather say “delivery in 0-6 months” for all BTO M1 Pro and Max machines instead of pushing the (obviously totally unrealistic) dates back over and over after customers have placed their order. It’s really bad business practice and I was on the brink of leaving their ecosystem completely after this almost 6-month wait for a laptop.

The irony with all this - I don’t really need a new machine for what I’m doing but I’m basically forced to replace my 2018 machine that Apple totally messed up with their crappy keyboard (which I had to get replaced three times so far…) before their repair programme runs out. I’ve been using it with an external keyboard only since the last top case replacement which is not a longtime solution, of course.

My friend’s 2021 M1 Pro is constantly crashing and the SD card reader only accepts 1-2 cards out of 5 that all work fine in external readers. I have never looked less forward to a new laptop than this year, and hope this will change should I receive it after all.
 
These delays are getting ridiculous. I agree it is very bad practice to give a date for estimated delivery when you've placed your order and for those dates to then constantly move. I'm surprised there is not wider coverage of this. At least to their credit, Apple doesn't take your funds straight away when you order unlike the vast majority of retailers. But it is still annoying. You excitedly order your device, the date approaches, maybe you've bought loads of peripherals and accessories, you've planned the migration etc only to be put back by months in some cases.

God knows when the Studio Display I ordered will get here.

It's obviously Pro users who will be affected the most here as they typically highly customise their orders and typically max out the device. For users like me who aren't pro users, we can go to somewhere like Amazon and order there at least and get a pretty standard unit. but for the above user who needs max storage and RAM, it's no good.

What is the explanation for the delay? is it just China with lockdowns and the resulting supply chain delays?
 
First I was told it’s the Max processor causing the delay, later they said it’s the 64GB RAM. At some point they stopped giving an explanation at all and just gave me new expected delivery dates (with none of them having been true).

I consider myself a pro and basically can’t be with a laptop for more than a day or so without negatively affecting my business. I had also bought some accessories for the machine last year in anticipation of receiving it before the end of December that collect dust now…

In my case, I ordered via an authorised Apple reseller who took my money upfront and kept it for several months until I canceled. Thought, I’d use Apple directly this time for more realistic delivery dates (and no upfront payment), but it seems it doesn’t make any difference at all when you order BTO machines.

The expected delivery dates stated on Apple’s website are plainly and simply completely wrong and I highly advise not to trust them at all if you need a machine quickly and can’t afford to wait for several months.
 
appleino said:
Apple should rather say “delivery in 0-6 months” for all BTO M1 Pro and Max machines instead of pushing the (obviously totally unrealistic) dates back over and over after customers have placed their order.
Click to expand...

OW22 said:
I agree it is very bad practice to give a date for estimated delivery when you've placed your order and for those dates to then constantly move.
Click to expand...

Apple has in the past given conservative ETAs and has almost always beaten them. They do some of the best component supply management in the world. You can't expect them to be able to predict supply chain issues due to unexpected events such as the Russian sanctions. That will cause 1 million containers normally shipped across Russian to be added to the overloaded shipping ports. Or the problems caused by the war in Ukraine. Or the new Covid variant shutting down China. etc. It is unfortunate that it has affected your orders, but you can't expect Apple to know that these things would happen.

If you look at their website they are now giving shipping estimates in June. So they are giving the best estimates they can. They can't predict things out of their control that happen in the future.

I have been an Apple customer for decades, ordered a lot of products and they have never missed their ETA. Until now. My studio display has just been put back 2 weeks. We'll see if it actually happens. If it doesn't I'm not going to blame Apple. They are doing the best they can. I am very glad I don't work in their supply chain management. Must be very stressful.
 
HDFan said:
Apple has in the past given conservative ETAs and has almost always beaten them. They do some of the best component supply management in the world. You can't expect them to be able to predict supply chain issues due to unexpected events such as the Russian sanctions. That will cause 1 million containers normally shipped across Russian to be added to the overloaded shipping ports. Or the problems caused by the war in Ukraine. Or the new Covid variant shutting down China. etc. It is unfortunate that it has affected your orders, but you can't expect Apple to know that these things would happen.

If you look at their website they are now giving shipping estimates in June. So they are giving the best estimates they can. They can't predict things out of their control that happen in the future.

I have been an Apple customer for decades, ordered a lot of products and they have never missed their ETA. Until now. My studio display has just been put back 2 weeks. We'll see if it actually happens. If it doesn't I'm not going to blame Apple. They are doing the best they can. I am very glad I don't work in their supply chain management. Must be very stressful.
Click to expand...
Cargo is not shipped across Russia by land to Europe and elsewhere and I'm talking about Orders well AFTER the Ukraine war started and after any renewed Covid lockdown in China. Global chip shortages and other component shortages were happening through 2020-21, car manufacturers have been hit by this for the last couple of years. We're not talking about unknowns here.
 
Just got my order pushed back by another 6-8 weeks - new expected delivery date is mid to end June. It's getting absolutely ridiculous now...
 
brosenz said:
Your best option is to go retail, Apple Store usually has stock of some configurations, they do have a Max 64G/4T option that gets stocked at the store.
Click to expand...
I've seen a few posts with people grabbing these - agreed that this is the best course of action. I wouldn't cancel your order until you've got another MBP that suits your needs, in your hands
 
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Wasn’t MBP production effected by the recent Shanghai lockdowns? If so, I’d cut Apple a bit of slack as this is something that was totally out of their control. Still sucks to wait though, I totally understand the frustration
 
That's what I did about a month ago. Checked local store stock and walked out with a new MBP 16' within 15 mins. Online was saying it was months out.
 
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I saw the long delays in December, January, February, thinking I'll wait until supply improves. Beginning of March I ordered, with a delivery date at the end of April. As the delivery date passed my next delivery date got pushed to mid-June... I checked the Apple Store on that day to compare delivery estimate... and a new order had the same delivery estimate as my order from March. How can that be?
 
The same happened to me - I ordered for the second time in March (after I had waited over 4 months for an M1 Max order from November last year which got pushed back over and over again). The machine I ordered in March was just an M1 Pro with less RAM and less storage since for that particular machine Apple gave a delivery estimate of 1-2 weeks while the Max stood at 6-8 weeks.

Now that my new order was pushed back for another 6-8 weeks on the day it was supposed to arrive, a similar machine has a delivery estimate of 6-8 weeks in the Apple Store as well.

It seems, hardly any of the BTO orders placed at Apple are currently being produced or shipped, otherwise my new delivery date should have been 4-6 weeks instead of exactly the same as a completely new order being placed today.

I‘ve finally given up on ordering from Apple directly and cancelled my second order too. Bought a higher spec‘d machine from a retailer instead - placed the order yesterday in the afternoon and the machine was delivered this morning.

I highly advise not to order from Apple, they will push back your order almost indefinitely and with China facing the next local lockdowns, it‘s probably not improving for a while.
 
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zv470 said:
and a new order had the same delivery estimate as my order from March. How can that be?
Click to expand...

One explanation is that is when they expect factory output to reach full capacity and to be able to fulfill all pending and new orders. Another way of putting it, if they are producing 0 units now and then on that date can produce 100,000 and they have a backlog of 50,000 then they can do the backlog as well as new orders.

My studio display with height adjustment was due April 7. Changed to April 22. Just changed to May 23.
 
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