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Scissors

macrumors regular
Jun 14, 2012
230
25
London, UK
Thanks for the spreadsheet! It would be kind of fun to add in a column for "time ordered" and/or "vendor" to see if there's any pattern there.

Anything to pass the time ...

Thanks!

I'd thought about doing this originally, but came to the view that it might get messy if people don't use the same time zone.

As the wait is proving so painful, I now agree that it would be a good use of a few seconds of waiting time to include the time ordered, and I've indicated that the time should be PST (GMT-8). It should be easy for us all to work out as we all know the store went live at 00:00 PST in the US and within half an hour or so of that everywhere else.

I've also added a few extra words to the health warning.
 
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cast128

macrumors regular
Jul 24, 2003
150
92
Colorado
I ordered at 12:30am PST as soon as the site went live with absolutely no movement in my order of the following:

8-core
16GB Memory
1TB storage
D700

Just called apple about it and they were absolutely no help and could not answer a single question, more importantly about why "business orders" seem to be prioritized over regular customer orders.
 

Nugget

Contributor
Nov 24, 2002
2,168
1,468
Tejas Hill Country
Just called apple about it and they were absolutely no help and could not answer a single question, more importantly about why "business orders" seem to be prioritized over regular customer orders.

Why do you think that business orders are prioritized? I ordered the exact same config, through business services, and also "absolutely no movement" on my order. It's still January, and all they promised was that it would ship in "January." Unless they miss that deadline, there's no sense in complaining.

I suggest you just CTFD and let Apple process the orders. Calling won't do you any good.
 

Rad

macrumors regular
Aug 8, 2006
130
14
Arriving tomorrow

Non-business no-discount order of a 6-core 1 TB SSD, 64 GB RAM and D700s with confirmation email at 00:30 PST on Dec 19th. Shipped 1/6/2014 and will arrive in California 1/9/2014 by UPS ground. Other than an early order, no specific pattern seen.
 
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cast128

macrumors regular
Jul 24, 2003
150
92
Colorado
I suggest you just CTFD and let Apple process the orders. Calling won't do you any good.

You obviously expect very little from businesses you spend money with. Take a look at the spreadsheet and see that an employee order placed at 6am on the 19th for the configuration below:

8-core
64 GB
1TB storage
D700

That order shipped today. Similar business orders have shipped as well. It might as well be the same configuration as yours or mine. Explain that, in your obviously pompous "CTFD" attitude. BTW, I never asked for personal advice about what to do from you, not that I would ever bother listening to it.
 

Nugget

Contributor
Nov 24, 2002
2,168
1,468
Tejas Hill Country
You obviously expect very little from businesses you spend money with.

I expect businesses to deliver on the promises they make to me. In this case, Apple have promised to ship my order in "January." At this point there's no reason to expect that they'll fail to meet that promise. If I still haven't gotten a shipping notice and Feb 1 looms, the story will be different.

Expecting anything more is unreasonable, unrealistic, and unprofessional.
 

tkatz

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2009
258
208
The thing is, we really have no idea how many machines have been ordered. With the target market for it, we also have no idea how many have been ordered by single companies.

Exaggerating things a bit, consider how many machines a company such as ILM could have ordered. Just look at the size of their art department on any feature.

Now I'm not saying ILM ordered one for every staff member, or even any at all. But think of how many production companies there are and how much potential staff there are among those companies that could use one of these things. The number of people here reporting on their status is most likely a considerably insignificant amount in the greater number of orders.

We also have no idea what their strategy is in terms of building and shipping. It might be that they build a whole bunch for a specific region (and potentially configuration), then ship them all out at once. Then do another region, etc, then cycle back around. Which could explain why an order placed at 6am was shipped but not one just after the store opened.

Or… it could be that someone completely botched the order list, and the workers are taking 15 minute breaks every 45 minutes and just a few are being produced each day ;)

Meanwhile I'm still checking the google doc and my order status way more often then I'd like to admit.. :D
 

cast128

macrumors regular
Jul 24, 2003
150
92
Colorado
Expecting anything more is unreasonable, unrealistic, and unprofessional.

I would argue that shipping employee and business orders that were placed after "regular" customers before those other customers' orders is quite unprofessional. To be perfectly honest, I had no further interest in getting into a bickering war with you. I never asked for your opinion on the matter and would greatly appreciate it if you would "CTFD" (in your words) about the matter and cease anymore personal attacks. This forum is generally great and people are very understanding. I personally apologize if I offended anyone in my small post venting my frustrations.
 

TekAzurik

macrumors member
Jan 6, 2014
30
0
The thing is, we really have no idea how many machines have been ordered. With the target market for it, we also have no idea how many have been ordered by single companies.

Exaggerating things a bit, consider how many machines a company such as ILM could have ordered. Just look at the size of their art department on any feature.

Now I'm not saying ILM ordered one for every staff member, or even any at all. But think of how many production companies there are and how much potential staff there are among those companies that could use one of these things. The number of people here reporting on their status is most likely a considerably insignificant amount in the greater number of orders.

We also have no idea what their strategy is in terms of building and shipping. It might be that they build a whole bunch for a specific region (and potentially configuration), then ship them all out at once. Then do another region, etc, then cycle back around. Which could explain why an order placed at 6am was shipped but not one just after the store opened.

Or… it could be that someone completely botched the order list, and the workers are taking 15 minute breaks every 45 minutes and just a few are being produced each day ;)

Meanwhile I'm still checking the google doc and my order status way more often then I'd like to admit.. :D

This is spot on. There are way too many factors here and our sample size is minuscule. Trying to extrapolate Apple's build/shipping plan from around 100 orders is a bit of a waste of time. I can't help but hope to see a patter either, but getting angry that yours hasn't shipped yet isn't going to do you any good. It's annoying yes, but it is what it is, let's please not let this conversation degrade to another internet forum rant.
 

tkatz

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2009
258
208
It could be worse… just look at all the past posts on the BlackMagic Design forums regarding each of their cameras. Or the various RED delays.

At least Apple is actually shipping.
 

mintakax

macrumors regular
Dec 19, 2013
176
24
I would argue that shipping employee and business orders that were placed after "regular" customers before those other customers' orders is quite unprofessional. To be perfectly honest, I had no further interest in getting into a bickering war with you. I never asked for your opinion on the matter and would greatly appreciate it if you would "CTFD" (in your words) about the matter and cease anymore personal attacks. This forum is generally great and people are very understanding. I personally apologize if I offended anyone in my small post venting my frustrations.

You were fine, the other guy was out of line IMO.
 

Scissors

macrumors regular
Jun 14, 2012
230
25
London, UK
If it's any help in trying to keep positive...

In June 2012, I pre-ordered a 1st gen 15" rMBP immediately after the Apple online store re-opened. A day later it came to light that the 8GB model was not user-upgradeable to 16GB so I reluctantly cancelled my order and re-ordered a 16GB version. My estimated shipping date was over three weeks later than my original order.

But then, way ahead of the ETA for shipping, my order changed from processing to shipping. There was no reason for this as others who'd ordered before me had their orders stuck on processing. I ended up receiving my rMBP just a week later than the estimate on the original order.

So far, it seems we're seeing the same apparently near-random approach to shipping nMPs. It's a bit more frustrating this time around because we don't even have an estimated date within the month. However, as Apple almost always ships ahead of estimates to help contribute to the feel good factor, I'm guessing that all of us in the January batch will see ours ship within the next couple of weeks and a few in the February batch will see theirs ship in the last week of February.

I'm itching for my nMP as much as the next guy (my last desktop Mac was a PowerMac G5 1.8GHz) but trying to stay positive that tomorrow it could be me...
 

Nugget

Contributor
Nov 24, 2002
2,168
1,468
Tejas Hill Country
I would argue that shipping employee and business orders that were placed after "regular" customers before those other customers' orders is quite unprofessional. To be perfectly honest, I had no further interest in getting into a bickering war with you. I never asked for your opinion on the matter and would greatly appreciate it if you would "CTFD" (in your words) about the matter and cease anymore personal attacks. This forum is generally great and people are very understanding. I personally apologize if I offended anyone in my small post venting my frustrations.

I don't see how a business order isn't a "regular" customer, although I am sympathetic to your comment about employee sales. Prioritizing large customers over small customers happens all the time, though, and is hardly unprofessional behavior. Perhaps Apple is doing that, although I don't think we have enough visibility into the order status to even say for certain if they are or are not prioritizing business orders over website orders right now. There are insufficient data available to us to say for sure if that's the case.

We don't know what factors influence order fulfillment sequencing, and Apple have made no promises to any of us that orders would be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. While it might make sense to us that identical config machines (including RAM spec) would be processed in sequential order that's not something that is fair to expect in the absence of a commitment from Apple. They could be trying to equalize geographically for shipping efficiencies. The manufacturing lines could be only loosely coupled to machine configs causing out-of-sequence fulfillment. There's never been a guarantee of first-order, first-shipped. There's no reason to expect or demand that.

What did I say that you consider to be a personal attack? I've just explained my position on the subject, which is how forum threads work.
 

Vic-Viper

macrumors regular
Apr 1, 2010
177
2
Has there been any shipment notifications going out today? I haven't found any. I called Apple and the lady on the phone tried to get me a specific date. She was unable to do so unfortunately, but at least she tried.
 

Scissors

macrumors regular
Jun 14, 2012
230
25
London, UK
Has there been any shipment notifications going out today? I haven't found any. I called Apple and the lady on the phone tried to get me a specific date. She was unable to do so unfortunately, but at least she tried.

Looking at the spreadsheet, there have only been two changes from processing to preparing for shipment today.
 

iizmoo

macrumors 6502
Jan 8, 2014
260
34
Does anyone have historical number of Mac Pro sold in previous quarters? I tried googling, but can't find specifics, the numbers are usually grouped into Macs sold . Esp with demands for past releases of the Pros.

I'm trying to figure out a range of how many units are being manufactured. We know it's in a 450,000 sqft facility that can accommodate around 2000+ workers.

The spreadsheet actually does help determine how backed up the order queue is, look like it switched from Jan to Feb between about 6 - 7 AM PST. And we know production is being ramp up enough that all orders are within Feb ship range, even if you were to place a brand new order today.
 

mintakax

macrumors regular
Dec 19, 2013
176
24
I understand those that are positive and patient, I also understand those that have had it with the waiting. For many, the nMP has been a long wait, and this last bit is the toughest. I don't see any reason why people should be criticized for venting their frustrations. There is really nothing personal in this soon to die out thread.
 

AcornCinema

macrumors newbie
Jan 6, 2014
25
0
New York, NY
beyond frustrating

It's not even so much the power/speed increase, but the fact that a new computer is a working computer. Some people who ordered a nMP aren't just in it for the shiny newness, they need a new machine that works, which makes these delays pretty crippling for people like myself. Teasing us with "later this year" so we'll hold off buying new machines, then "december" then this BS is frankly manipulative and unprofessional, and I say that as someone who loves apple's mac pro's and pro aps.

My macpro is 6 years old and I was expecting my nMP in december at the latest, and not having it is has royally screwed me. I use my computer for everything, especially work, and I need a functioning machine just in order to finish stuff that's already 98% done. Somedays all I do is try to open projects without "unexpected quits" every 2 seconds. My current rig is little more than a doorstop with email anymore.

(My macpro 3.1 barely works anymore not from age, but the damage that comes with it. After constantly moving and repeated flooding both dvd drives are long dead, the bluetooth hasn't worked in 3 years, I get constant drive ejections in the middle of work, and simple actions like opening a finder window can cause my machine to lock up for 30 seconds, etc. etc.)

I feel like if apple had been more honest about their release date and supply, then I could've gotten something else (probably cheaper) earlier and saved myself a lot of frustration.:mad:
 

Spinland

macrumors 6502
Jul 16, 2011
320
1
Utica, NY, USA
Well, looks like as of last night UPS has my nMP order stalled in Illinois due to weather. Tomorrow's scheduled delivery date has been removed and now there's no date at all. Oh, well. :p
 

analog guy

macrumors 6502
Mar 6, 2009
397
50
It's not even so much the power/speed increase, but the fact that a new computer is a working computer. Some people who ordered a nMP aren't just in it for the shiny newness, they need a new machine that works, which makes these delays pretty crippling for people like myself. Teasing us with "later this year" so we'll hold off buying new machines, then "december" then this BS is frankly manipulative and unprofessional, and I say that as someone who loves apple's mac pro's and pro aps.

My macpro is 6 years old and I was expecting my nMP in december at the latest, and not having it is has royally screwed me. I use my computer for everything, especially work, and I need a functioning machine just in order to finish stuff that's already 98% done. Somedays all I do is try to open projects without "unexpected quits" every 2 seconds. My current rig is little more than a doorstop with email anymore.

(My macpro 3.1 barely works anymore not from age, but the damage that comes with it. After constantly moving and repeated flooding both dvd drives are long dead, the bluetooth hasn't worked in 3 years, I get constant drive ejections in the middle of work, and simple actions like opening a finder window can cause my machine to lock up for 30 seconds, etc. etc.)

I feel like if apple had been more honest about their release date and supply, then I could've gotten something else (probably cheaper) earlier and saved myself a lot of frustration.:mad:

i've got a 3,1 and have an nMP on order, so i understand some of what you are going through.

however, my 3,1 is not preventing me from doing work. you could still buy a 5,1 today and have it delivered tomorrow.

if i literally couldn't do work, i would make it a priority to do something like that.
 

Beezy253

macrumors 6502
Sep 19, 2013
350
12
Tacoma, WA
Just a FYI, got an eMail this morning that PowerMax (Authorized reseller) has some Mac Pro's in-Stock and ready to ship from Portland, Oregon.

Also, No tax!
 

Spinland

macrumors 6502
Jul 16, 2011
320
1
Utica, NY, USA
Well, looks like as of last night UPS has my nMP order stalled in Illinois due to weather. Tomorrow's scheduled delivery date has been removed and now there's no date at all. Oh, well. :p

If anyone is playing at home my expected delivery date has been moved from tomorrow to Monday the 13th. My interpretation of the UPS notations is they had so much existing traffic piled up because of prior weather issues in Illinois they're now behind and have to catch up. I'll update my spreadsheet entry for whatever that's worth.
 
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