Apple Begins Preparing First 27-Inch iMac Orders for Shipment [Update: Shipping]

[MacRumors]

As noted by a number of MacRumors forum members, customers who placed early orders for the new 27-inch iMac are beginning to see their credit cards charged and order statuses changing to "Preparing for Shipment". The new status indicates that the orders can no longer be changed or canceled and is the final stage before the machines are passed off to delivery companies.

Customers who have received updated order statuses are reporting that they are still seeing their originally quoted delivery times, which are typically in the range of December 21-31, but it seems that their orders may arrive slightly ahead of that window if they ship out in a timely fashion.

So far it appears that only U.S. customers have reported seeing their orders being prepared for shipment, but there are still only a few data points available. A number of those seeing their orders being readied for delivery have also included built-to-order configurations, indicating that custom orders will be arriving essentially alongside stock models.

Update: Apple has now begun shipping these early orders, with many customers seeing delivery dates of December 18 while a few are seeing dates as early as December 13. We're also hearing from customers outside of the United States that their orders are similarly progressing toward shipment.

Article Link: Apple Begins Preparing First 27-Inch iMac Orders for Shipment [Update: Shipping]

[olegandbuster25]

sweet

[Zwhaler]

Nice ... in all honesty I want to see how the big 27" fares with the maxed out i7 with heat dissipation. The last gens got really hot up there and with a thinner enclosure I'm not sure how it will handle all that heat.

[Rudy69]

Just checked and my base 27" with fusion is in that state too

[mistafro]

My order for a fully maxxed out config shows this as well hopefully they beat that Dec 27th estimate!!

[haruhiko]

So that nobody can cancel their orders knowing that their iMacs won't be shipped until 31 Jan 2013?

[Rockondevil]

Great to hear, although sadly my BTO is not in this stage yet with an estimated delivery of 21st - 27th.

[ViperDesign]

Still in the "Processing Items" status for me. I have a 21st to 28th delivery schedule. BTO order as well

[macs4nw]

Looking forward to seeing them in the APPLE store, and check them out in person.

[TouchMint.com]

Very nice I wonder when 3rd party sellers with get them in. (Amazon, macmall, etc..)

[doobybiggs]

Originally Posted by macs4nw

Looking forward to seeing them in the APPLE store, and check them out in person.

are they not in the apple store yet? (I have not been since the 21.5" have been released ...)

[adildacoolset]

Originally Posted by Rockondevil

Great to hear, although sadly my BTO is not in this stage yet with an estimated delivery of 21st - 27th.

Bad luck Brian. iMac 27" finally ships, but world ends

[kolizion]

They are probably processing them as they came in... I wonder how many card rejections they will get on these compared to the iPhone orders... Possibly bumping up shipping times.

Guess we will know in 48 hours.

[iMikeT]

Awesome. Hopefully this will make people who have complained here happy.

[Rygaard]

Originally Posted by iMikeT

Awesome. Hopefully this will make people who have complained here happy.

WHATTTT WHYYYY "Processing Items Ships: 2 - 3 Weeks Delivers 27 Dec, 2012 - 03 Jan, 2013" iWANT

still hoping for a pre-Christmas delevery here in Denmark, did order like 1 hour after it was up.

[aquaboy]

How long is the time frame between preparing for shipment too dispatched?

[MacDarcy]

It's about friggin time!

Lol...ok...so I didn't order mine yet. But this has been the slowest launch for an iMac I've seen in awhile. Especially during the holiday season.

Gonna wait until after the new year, and after some in depth reviews of the new 27" before I order mine.

Don't care about the "no retina"....I doubt that's gonna even be feasible on a screen that large for many years...but I am curious about any heat issues in the new thinner design. So I'm waiting.

Looks sweet tho! ;-)

[steve119]

Processing Items Dispatched: 2 - 3 Weeks Delivers 21 Dec, 2012 - 02 Jan, 2013

Been like this for a week

[bflowers]

No change on mine yet. Checked my card, and it hasn't been charged yet. I ordered a BTO with i7,Fusion and 680MX ordered within the first few minutes of availability. I'll edit this post when it does.

[cxny]

First rule in business: Under Promise Over Deliver. That pleasing sensation that you get just a little more than you were expecting in a transaction. Apple's specialty for 30 years.

[ViperDesign]

It is interesting to see people who have ordered way after you have their status change while mine hasn't. Oh well. I just hope it gets here before I leave for a week

[jetjaguar]

ordered mine as soon as they came up for sale.
delivers dec 21-28 .. no status change

[nematoda2]

I just checked my account on Apple. It shows that my BTO imac has
"departed Shanghai, China Monday 12/10/2012." My account page does not show an estimated arrival date, though, but I would expect that it takes much less that the original estimate of Dec. 24-31.

Another interesting tidbit: after ordering my imac, I decided to get the magic trackpad instead of the mouse. So I called customer service to see if I could make a change. Much to my surprise, the CS rep. said he would ship me the magic trackpad for free, and I could also keep the mouse. Never expected that, but I guess Apple's profit margins are so big that it's not a big deal.

[CavemanEmpire]

I did opt for the expedited delivery. Nice surprise!

[xgman]

On Schedule

Initiated
Picked up
In transit
Delivered

In transit
SHANGHAI CN

Shipment Dates

Ship date

Dec 10, 2012

Estimated delivery

Dec 13, 2012 by 10:30 AM

Destination

Largo, MD