Apple delays shipments of new 17-inch MacBook Pros

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Shipments of Apple Computer's new 17-inch MacBook Pro notebooks are off to a rocky start this month, with customers reporting that the company has been unable to make good on delivery times initially quoted with their orders.



The flagship Apple notebooks, along with their 15-inch counterparts, were revamped on Oct. 24 with Intel Corp.'s Core 2 Duo microprocessors, double the memory and greater storage capacity. The 15-inch model was available upon announcement with delivery of the 17-inch notebooks projected for the following week.



In an email to its Apple store online customers this week, Apple said it would be unable to meet the the delivery dates specified alongside orders for the 17-inch models.



"We are unable to ship your 17-inch MacBook Pro by the date given when you placed the order," the company wrote. "It is now expected to ship on or before 11/14/06. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this delay may cause and we are making every effort to ship this unit as soon as possible."



Apple did not offer customers an explanation for the delay, but informed speculation would point to a component specific to the 17-inch models, such as casing element or the notebook's 17-inch LCD display.



For the most part, Apple has been able churn out the majority of its orders for 15-inch Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro models, which share many of the same components as the 17-inch model. However, there have been some exceptions in international regions.



One Switzerland-based Apple customer told AppleInsider that his 15-inch MacBook Pro order was delayed from Nov. 8 to Nov. 17. Unlike the generic automated responses sent to US Apple store customers, the company cited "unexpected high demand" in the case of that order.



Some 17-inch MacBook Pro customers have been quite vocal in expressing their displeasure with the lack of detail the Cupertino, Calif.-based Mac maker offers when abruptly delaying orders by a week's time or more. Others are just anxious to get acquainted with their new systems.



"I ordered mine online through the Apple store on Oct. 30th. Originally it said it would ship in 7 to 10 days. When I checked the order status this morning is says Nov. 14th," wrote one member of the AppleInsider forums. "I'm going nuts, cause this is my first Mac, and I can't wait to throw my XP machine out the window."



People familiar with Apple's overseas manufacturing operations say the company has yet to deliver a single shipment of the new 17-inch notebooks.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    yep...



    Mine was changed on 7th to say shipping 14th, deliver 20th - 21st.



    I was MAD!! so i phoned Apple they gave me £50 ($95) and quicker shipping.



    I then got an e-mail on 8th saying it will ship on 13th...



    Hope i get it soon!!!
  • Reply 2 of 33
    Same old Apple. The more things change, the more things stay the same. They never ship on time!
  • Reply 3 of 33
    Here is a chance to get something extra out of Apple....



    I had the same problem with mine and got my expedited shipping fees waived and an extra 50 bucks off my order. They easily have the power to do this, and I did it almost without asking for it.



    Basically I stated that I had put expedited shipping on it because I knew that I needed it for school... Say you need it for some project or whatever.. They waived the shipping fees. Then I acted pretty put out because I had counted on that 5-7 business days that was originally quoted...



    It shouldn't be hard to do.. let me know if any of you use this advice.
  • Reply 4 of 33
    did the same as matthew already.

    easy.

    still wish i had my machine though
  • Reply 5 of 33
    I ordered my 17" MBP the 26:th and have a shipping date of November 9. Which is today (although its 03:42 in the morning here still). I have not got any e-mail about delayed order yet and I certainly hope that I wont either. But i think its weird that some people who ordered before me and got an earlier shipping date has got their shipping date delayed until after mine. That doesnt seem very fair.
  • Reply 6 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Matthew Yohe


    Here is a chance to get something extra out of Apple....



    I had the same problem with mine and got my expedited shipping fees waived and an extra 50 bucks off my order. They easily have the power to do this, and I did it almost without asking for it.



    Basically I stated that I had put expedited shipping on it because I knew that I needed it for school... Say you need it for some project or whatever.. They waived the shipping fees. Then I acted pretty put out because I had counted on that 5-7 business days that was originally quoted...



    It shouldn't be hard to do.. let me know if any of you use this advice.



    I'm all for getting things cheaper and quicker but one reason why apple is highly regarded is their customer service. I dont think we should be abusing their graciousness like this.
  • Reply 7 of 33
    For the past several years, I have by and large been on the sidelines watching other people voice various Apple grievences- now I am one of them! I Ordered my 17" MBP within hours of the announcement that they were coming out. Ship date was supposed to be the 7th, now changed to some time between the 9th and the 14th. I called Apple two days in a row and was told each day that the machinen was on the shipping dock- it was just a matter of whether or not FedEx had already come that day.



    Kind of makes you wonder what the truth is. Frankly, I'm frustrated. I might be less frustrated if Apple had a legitimate explanation instead of telling me "it's on the dock".



    The waiting game continues....
  • Reply 8 of 33
    The real problem is not Apple's delays--as others have pointed out, this is par for the course--the REAL problem is going to be quality.



    Uneven backlighting (since the last rev of the PB line) is a given. The question is what other Apple shortcuts are there.



    Don't get me wrong--I bought this computer, and am looking forward to it when it ships.



    But the noticable drop in Apple quality is the real story nowadays.
  • Reply 9 of 33
    Why act? If you have a legitimate complaint, then by all means say so; in my experience, they always comply and try to do the best thing to appease the customer. But don't try and cheat them to cut a deal. Look up the word 'ethics'.









    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Matthew Yohe


    Here is a chance to get something extra out of Apple....



    I had the same problem with mine and got my expedited shipping fees waived and an extra 50 bucks off my order. They easily have the power to do this, and I did it almost without asking for it.



    Basically I stated that I had put expedited shipping on it because I knew that I needed it for school... Say you need it for some project or whatever.. They waived the shipping fees. Then I acted pretty put out because I had counted on that 5-7 business days that was originally quoted...



    It shouldn't be hard to do.. let me know if any of you use this advice.



  • Reply 10 of 33
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jbrowdy


    Kind of makes you wonder what the truth is. Frankly, I'm frustrated. I might be less frustrated if Apple had a legitimate explanation instead of telling me "it's on the dock".



    I'm sure they don't have a legitimate explaination, they are doing this to make you upset.
  • Reply 11 of 33
    ronnronn Posts: 653member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Caribou Killa


    I'm all for getting things cheaper and quicker but one reason why apple is highly regarded is their customer service. I dont think we should be abusing their graciousness like this.



    While I wouldn't make up a story, demanding free/expedited shipping and/or a tiny price break is the least Apple could give for their delays. They should do whatever it takes to satisfy customers.
  • Reply 12 of 33
    I was more than a little upset to have the shipping date changed on the day that it was meant to be shipped. I would have prefred a little more notice than me logging on, expecting to see a notice telling me that it had been shipped, and finding that it woulnd't be shipped for another week+.



    After a polite phone call to Apple I did manage to get them to agree to ship it on the 14th . I was a little confused to get an e-mail telling me that it woudl be shiped on the 13th insted. But hey I'm not going to question them if they want to advance their promised shipping date by a day.



    I think I'd be a bit more if I hadn't taken the extra step of phoning my nearest Apple store (Regent St, London) and found that not only had they got none of the 17" models, they said that they weren't due to get any until sometime around the 20th. So while I'm frustrated at my lack of a new new shiny laptop, I know that Apple are screwing it up right across their sales empire. I'd hate to think that my order was being delayed so that they could get some laptops into the shops insted.
  • Reply 13 of 33
    toyintoyin Posts: 58member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by scotty321


    Same old Apple. The more things change, the more things stay the same. They never ship on time!



    -I got my MacBook Pro C2D 2 days before expected.

    -My wifes MacBook came the day we expected.

    -My 15" and 12" Powerbooks both arrived on time.

    -My Dual 500mhz G4 came several days early and on a Saturday.



    I'm not sure I would label Apple as a chronically late shipper.
  • Reply 14 of 33
    My school ordered the 17 inch MBP for me the day after the Core2Duos were announced. From the start, I was given a Nov. 16 ship date, so the education channel was a 3 week wait from the beginning. After reading about the consumer channel dates slipping, I've been concerned that mine might also be delayed another week too, but so far, it's still retaining the Nov. 16 date. Hope it stays that way!



    So maybe there are lots of MBPs in the pipeline, but they just didn't get the pipeline flowing as quickly as they first thought.
  • Reply 15 of 33
    I ordered the 17" MBP from the Apple (Canada) online educational store on Oct. 29 and was given an estimated ship date (no delivery date) of Nov. 14. So far, that date is unchanged by Apple. I too ordered the expedited shipping. I don't doubt that once it ships, it will be expedited; I just wish they'd expedite the process to get it on that FedEx plane.

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  • Reply 16 of 33
    I ordered a 15-in 2.16 MBP with the 160 GB drive and 1 GB ram (I can add my own cheaper) about three hours after the new computers were announced on 24 October. My order was an education institution order, and I suspect that these orders are being treated differently in terms of the overall shipment queue. My expected ship date was 2 November, and I live in Nevada. On 3 November, they changed my expected ship date to 28 November, so I have no idea if I am simply unlucky or if there are others that have been screwed on receiving their new MBP as bad as me. As of this morning, the store is down again (I suspect they are putting up the new mini's or something.)
  • Reply 17 of 33
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by grease


    As of this morning, the store is down again (I suspect they are putting up the new mini's or something.)



    The store is back up and nothing has changed with my order (or the mac mini). Still 28 November.
  • Reply 18 of 33
    i ordered the day after it was released (UK).



    After sending me an email about it's dispatch delay (delayed from 8th to 14th Novemebri was quite annoyed.



    I just recieved another email stating that due to the unexpected high demand they will delay my dispatch until 16th November:



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by apple


    We trust you received our email indicating a revised ship date for the product you ordered. We regret to inform you that we must revise the ship date once again, as demand for the product remains beyond our expectations. We now expect to ship your order by November 16th, 2006.



    We appreciate your patience and apologise for any inconvenience.



  • Reply 19 of 33
    i got the same e-mail, but my web order status still says 14th, lets hope for tomorrow
  • Reply 20 of 33
    :Update:



    After assuming that when Apple said "the 13th" after delaying my order by a week, they would acutally ship my order on this revised date. I was wrong, aparently the e-mail I was sent saying the 13th, should have said the 14th.



    I am already a little pissed off that Apple don't seem to have used any form of planning for their MBP C2D 17' launch. And I am furious that they decided to wait until the date the laptop was meant to ship, to inform me of the delay. But to then provide a new date of shipping that was also innnacurate is really the last straw.



    Might I suggest that who ever is responsible for such things pulls his/her head out of his/her arse & trys a wonderful new technique called "stock managment & customer relations".



    P.S. the third shipping date was accurate, I have just recived a shipping notice.
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