Mac mini Upgrades Loom, Bulk Buyers Say

Several sources seem to corroborate quite well talks of Apple refreshing its Mac mini line, AppleInsider reports. Bulk buyers are telling the site that ETAs have pushed their orders from one-three business days to a definitive date of June 14, or that they’ve been advised by “Apple contacts” to only submit their latest order for what is absolutely needed “for the next few weeks.”

As far as Apple products are concerned, depleted stock generally translates into hardware upgrades. This should be the case with the company’s low-end desktop computers, AppleInsider stresses, after verifying these shortages not once, but four times. It is believed that these constraints are indicative of new models, not intermittent delays.

A few relevant examples are being offered in the report, with one buyer for a higher end institution having placed a bulk order for Mac minis two weeks ago through the school's Apple rep. The buyer reportedly revealed that the receipt of the machines was required by June 1. The Apple rep initially indicated that the computers would be delivered on time, yet his ETA was pushed from one-three business days to June 14, the report says.

The buyer even gave AppleInsider a piece of his mind, saying, “Every time this has happened in years past, it means that the item we ordered would be revised.” A third person who regularly purchases Mac minis in bulk also suggests this may be the case indeed. After placing an order directly through the Mac maker, this person was allegedly advised by his Apple contacts “to only submit his latest order for what he absolutely needed ‘for the next few weeks’.”

Another person reportedly ran into similar problems while attempting to acquire a number of Mac minis. Serving as a buyer for a firm, a Mac consultant was allegedly informed by his supplier that the model he had ordered was completely out of stock at the distributor. For his part, the distributor could not provide an ETA, as Apple itself hadn’t said anything about when the stock would be refilled.