Apple ships some 17-inch Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Apple Computer has managed to get the first shipments of its new 17-inch MacBook Pros out the door but continues to struggle in meeting overall demand for the flagship notebooks.



Customers who had been expecting to receive shipment confirmations on their orders last week were instead sent an email from Apple's online store informing them of an unexpected delay.



The Cupertino, Calif.-based Mac maker apologized and said it expected to begin shipping the high-end Core 2 Duo notebooks by Tuesday, Nov. 14.



Making good on its word the second time around, the company this week began notifying some customers that their orders had shipped out Shanghai, China.



"I got an e-mail from Apple saying my stock MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 17" shipped today," one customer wrote in an email on Monday. "I had ordered it with free ground shipping on Oct. 25 and it shows expected delivery for Nov 16."



On Tuesday, several additional Apple store customers reported that their new 17-inch notebooks had begun to make the air freight journey across the Pacific. But not all were so fortunate:



"I ordered my MacBook Pro 17-inch on the 30th of Oct. and I've just [received] an e-mail saying it won't be shipped till the 30th of Nov," wrote one Apple UK customer. "This certainly isn't the 7-10 days stated when I ordered it."



As of Wednesday evening, Apple's online store estimated that new 17-inch MacBook Pro orders would not ship for at least 5 business days, suggesting supply constrains could persist into the busy holiday shopping season.



On the other hand, every other computer Apple sells is available within 3 business days, with the majority ready for immediate shipment. The story is the same with iPods, which aside from the shuffle at 1 to 2 business days, are all available for dispatch within 24 hours.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 57
    Re: "On the other hand, every other computer Apple sells is available within 3 business days"



    However this is not quite the whole story. Institutional orders for products such as the 15" C2D Macbook Pro are being delayed _over 1 month_ in order to keep up with demand from orders made through the individual store. In this way Apple is "robbing Peter to pay Paul" in order to keep up with demand and pretend that it is able to ship 15" MBPs within 3 days to everyone who orders them.



    How do I know? I ordered a 15" MBP C2D October 26th through the educational store at my institution and have been told that the shipping time will be delayed, from initial shipment of November 6th ... to November the 30th.



    So in fact for some MBPs that Apple sells, they aren't able to meet demand for over a month!



    GRRRR
  • Reply 2 of 57
    I ordered mine on the day of the launch (10/24 I think) and it just got here this morning. I must say, it was kind of Apple to grant that 2-day shipping credit when I called. FedEx quoted delivery on Friday after shipping on Monday, but it got here today from Shanghai by way of Anchorage/Indianapolis/Skokie. I'm using it now and it runs beautifully. Hope everyone else's comes home soon.



    Unbox: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/fredri...?.dir=/7287re2
  • Reply 3 of 57
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by operator911


    Re: "On the other hand, every other computer Apple sells is available within 3 business days"



    However this is not quite the whole story. Institutional orders for products such as the 15" C2D Macbook Pro are being delayed _over 1 month_ in order to keep up with demand from orders made through the individual store. In this way Apple is "robbing Peter to pay Paul" in order to keep up with demand and pretend that it is able to ship 15" MBPs within 3 days to everyone who orders them.



    How do I know? I ordered a 15" MBP C2D October 26th through the educational store at my institution and have been told that the shipping time will be delayed, from initial shipment of November 6th ... to November the 30th.



    So in fact for some MBPs that Apple sells, they aren't able to meet demand for over a month!



    GRRRR



    I'm an education buyer also, but I bought it straight from the Apple Store for Education website customized to my school.
  • Reply 4 of 57
    So you didn't get the "We're going to shaft you now" letter?

    lucky you.
  • Reply 5 of 57
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by operator911


    So you didn't get the "We're going to shaft you now" letter?

    lucky you.



    I did at first, the one that said they couldn't make shipments on the previous date. I called and said I was worried my computer would be hanging out in a mailroom on campus while I was home during Thanksgiving break, so they gave me the 2-day shipping credit. The ship date was updated to Tuesday the 14th. To my surprise, it shipped on Monday, but with an estimate for arrival on Friday. Then all of a sudden I check the tracking this morning and it was here! I couldn't believe it.
  • Reply 6 of 57
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    So, just what is the problem here? Are they having production problems, or chip shortages, or too much demand for the number rolling off the lines?



    If it was simply a matter of demand, plenty of people should have received theirs already, but that doesn't seem to be the case.



    If it's production problems, and I had ordered one, I would be thinking about canceling that order until later. Who knows what the problems might be?
  • Reply 7 of 57
    I got the same information saying that it would be shipped out on the 14th. It was indeed shipped on the 14th, and I got it FedEx today. So the estimated delivery date originally given to me of the 15th was only 1 day off.



    In fact, I'm writing this post on my new 17" Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro right now.
  • Reply 8 of 57
    Mine, shipped 14th (i even got a nice e-mail from an apple customer relations poerson). Which I will admit is a little more than the 5-7 days after the 24th of October I was originally quoted. But to add insult to injury the shipping date is "on or before 24.11.2006" which is also a little longer than the 3-5 days for shipping I was promised.



    I think somone switched the motivation posters in the Apple shipping department for posters saying "have you pissed off a loyal customer today?".
  • Reply 9 of 57
    This whole thing has been a farce!



    I don't think they know what they are doing. I recieved a mail on Tuesday saying sorry we promised you 14th Shipping it will go out on the 16th...THEN, they did actually ship it on the same day anyway. It was said it would be here on the 23rd/24th of the month BUT THEN whilst it has gone two days before they just told me it would it is said to be here on the 25th!!!



    It all sounds very amatuer-ish to me. I am happy for you guys who are using your new toys as we speak, I assume you are in the US? I also assume you did NOT get it from an education establishment?



    I am in Scotland (that's UK for any ignorant **** that doesn't know) and got mine from university campus. They say the 25th, I say perhaps I will see it when Santa delivers it, COZ HE'S FASTER!!!
  • Reply 10 of 57
    OK already - tell us how it's working - give us a report!
  • Reply 11 of 57
    I too have an Edu inst. order that has been unreasonably delayed. I ordered on the morning of the 25th at 10 EST. I have since had to watch orders placed after mine ship out, even an identical order through the Higher ED inst. store placed after mine by about 2 hours was received last week, while I still have a ship on or before Nov 29th. I personally find it unacceptable for them to ship orders out of order for no reason, I could understand a part shortage and no units shipping, but I literally could order online today the exact same machine I have on order already, and the one ordered today through the consumer store would arrive before my Order placed on the 25th.

    I could also understand IF I ordered 300 units that there would be a delay, But I ordered 3 machines the order placed after mine was for 2 machines, the configs were the exact same, they got their order last week, and I still have no Idea when my order will ship. On top of that I have already been invoiced for the applecare to the tune of $700 almost a month before my order is going to ship, I have told them I wont pay that until I get my shipping notice, I also got a late notice for the applecare even though the invoice shows a due date of Nov 24th. Good luck to all...



    Ordered (3) 2.33/3GB/160HD/Matte on Oct 25th am

    Original ship date Nov 3rd

    Current ship date Nov 29th

    Current Budget spent on Apple product this year $100,000+
  • Reply 12 of 57
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kfdan


    OK already - tell us how it's working - give us a report!



    It runs extremely well. MS Office is running under Rosetta and I can't really tell the difference. Every program launches quickly from the dock. The widescreen display (mine is matte) is totally gorgeous. I turned on Cover Flow in iTunes and dragged the slider as far down as it would go to maximize the size of the album art, and it looks awesome flipping through. Video playback on YouTube, etc., is smooth and noninterrupted, unlike my G3 iBook. (Gee, imagine that.) That's pretty much all I can give right now, until I'm able to use it more extensively.



    edit - One more thing. I can't believe how loud the built-in speakers get. It matches my former computer, a Dell Inspiron 9100, that had a built-in subwoofer in the battery. And the MBP has no subwoofer of which I'm aware. iSight, of course, is a very nice touch. (Including that hidden status light.) I tried out a video conversation on iChat with no streaming issues whatsoever. I guess that was two more things.
  • Reply 13 of 57
    Anyone know, historically speaking, how pent up order demand and delayed availability play out when it comes to product availability in the B&M Apple Stores? I'm on the waiting list at the local Apple Store, but I just put my name on a few days ago. I'm betting that I'm WAY down the list.



    Is it going to be a couple of weeks before they're stocked?



    gc
  • Reply 14 of 57
    How does the weight of the 17 fair compared to your 9100? I've been using a 9100 for work and have finally bit the bullet and ordered myself a 17" Macbook Pro. I'm just curious if there is much weight savings if any, since the 9100 is a pig!



    Thanks



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by appleadaykeepsthebillaway


    It runs extremely well. MS Office is running under Rosetta and I can't really tell the difference. Every program launches quickly from the dock. The widescreen display (mine is matte) is totally gorgeous. I turned on Cover Flow in iTunes and dragged the slider as far down as it would go to maximize the size of the album art, and it looks awesome flipping through. Video playback on YouTube, etc., is smooth and noninterrupted, unlike my G3 iBook. (Gee, imagine that.) That's pretty much all I can give right now, until I'm able to use it more extensively.



    edit - One more thing. I can't believe how loud the built-in speakers get. It matches my former computer, a Dell Inspiron 9100, that had a built-in subwoofer in the battery. And the MBP has no subwoofer of which I'm aware. iSight, of course, is a very nice touch. (Including that hidden status light.) I tried out a video conversation on iChat with no streaming issues whatsoever. I guess that was two more things.



  • Reply 15 of 57
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vaeth


    How does the weight of the 17 fair compared to your 9100? I've been using a 9100 for work and have finally bit the bullet and ordered myself a 17" Macbook Pro. I'm just curious if there is much weight savings if any, since the 9100 is a pig!



    Thanks



    Here's a review of the 17" Core Duo. While they reviewed the new 15" Core 2, they haven tgotten to the new 17". But, the machines are about the same otherwise, particularly in regards to weight. The size is the same of course.



    http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1964457,00.asp
  • Reply 16 of 57
    Quote:

    If it was simply a matter of demand, plenty of people should have received theirs already, but that doesn't seem to be the case.



    Exactly. There's obviously been some sort of technical or production related glitch that has only now been resolved, hence the shipment of some initial orders yesterday and today. Apple obviously assumes that consumers are either: a) morons who can't put 2 and 2 together, or b) addicts who will overlook nearly anything just to get their latest fix.
  • Reply 17 of 57
    bodebode Posts: 29member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VideoGeek


    Exactly. There's obviously been some sort of technical or production related glitch that has only now been resolved, hence the shipment of some initial orders yesterday and today. Apple obviously assumes that consumers are either: a) morons who can't put 2 and 2 together, or b) addicts who will overlook nearly anything just to get their latest fix.



    I'm more like option b)



  • Reply 18 of 57
    My online delivery status shows that my 17" laptop has not been shipped but ...Apple Japan did a search and stated that it had been shipped? Apple is a little behind on the information front!
  • Reply 19 of 57
    I'm just waiting for the stores to get them. I am typing this on a MBP 15" C2D and I'm pretty much going to take it back for an upgrade to the 17". I love the 15" C2D, it's lightning fast and the RAM helps a bunch, but I would like to have the extra resolution for Photoshop and the like. Rosetta apps run beautifully, did a PowerPoint presentation last week at work on the new MBP's... everything is great, if I could only get a bigger screen now....



    I'm just waiting for the San Antonio Apple Store at La Cantera to get the 17" MBP's...
  • Reply 20 of 57
    I just got a shipping notice for mine too! It will arrive next Monday. I was beginning to think it would never arrive
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