14 DAY TRIAL // Customers are reporting that Apple has e-mailed them with an apology for delaying their orders on the new, NVIDIA-based MacBook Air units. The delay only appears to be affecting the entry-level 1.6GHz model with a 120GB SATA hard drive, sources indicate.
Apple explains that an unforeseen issue has made it unlikely for the company to ship the new MacBook Air units until shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday, AppleInsider is reporting.
"Due to an unexpected delay, we are unable to ship your MacBook Air by the date originally quoted to you," the company said in an email to several online store customers who were previously quoted ship times of November 5th and a delivery estimate of November 10th. "We now anticipate shipping the item by 11/24/08 and delivering by 11/29/08," Apple's email further reads.
The news source has isolated the cause of the delay as being the 120GB SATA hard drive. “By selecting a 1.6GHz model and choosing the $500.00 upgrade to a 128GB Solid State Drive drops the lead time from 2 - 3 weeks to 3 - 5 days, essentially isolating hard drive as the source of the delay,” the report reveals.
Apple has been actively shipping the 1.86GHz model with 128GB solid-state drive since late last month. Some customers actually got their new notebooks a week earlier than anticipated.
It is also noted in the report that Apple's MacBook Air isn't the only notebook whose orders have been delayed. And, guess what, the component affecting new MacBook Pro shipments is again the SATA hard drive upgrade option. According to readers, “the $50 option to upgrade the new MacBook Pro's hard drive to a 320GB Serial ATA @ 7200 increases lead times from 1 - 3 days to 5 to 7 days,” says the same report.
Along with the apology for the delay, Apple also assured its customers that they might change or even cancel their orders anytime time before the Air was shipped to them.