New iMacs preparing to ship next week?

[Grimace]

This certainly falls in the realm of speculation, but I ordered a number of baseline 20" iMacs for work, with no custom configuration, and I've had my order delayed for a week, followed by this message today:

Due to an unexpected delay, we are unable to ship the following item(s)
by the date that you were originally quoted:


MB324LL/A, IMAC 20/2.66/2GB/320GB/SD-USA
will now ship on or before
Feb 05, 2009

Please note that product availability can change rapidly, and it is
possible that your order may ship much sooner than we anticipate. You
may even receive a shipment confirmation between the time we send this
email and the time that you read it.

That seemed odd, as it is the stock model, advertised to ship in 24 hours. I called Apple to inquire about the delay, and my regional rep (east coast) said that, "the delay would be well worth it in the long run, if you catch my meaning."

Apple innuendo is so delightful! I smell an updated iMac soon!

[mattcube64]

Hmm...

That actually sounds like the most "proof" we've received in a long time!

Hopefully we'll see something soon!

[Grimace]

Yeah, I plan to try back in a few days on the phone and see if I can squeeze any more out!

[Superman07]

Thanks for the information. Any chance of putting a question mark in your thread title?

[Grimace]

Done!

[onvn]

Hmm.. did the guy you talked to in the phone have a certain tone on his voice while saying that? or is it just small talk of reassurance to you as a customer?

Originally Posted by Superman07

Thanks for the information. Any chance of putting a question mark in your thread title?

LOL.. i see you are a very diplomatic.. not a bad thing to have!

[pkoury]

Hmmm I like the sound of that.

Now go buy a Mac Mini and see what it says in your order status!!

[angemon89]

Originally Posted by onvn

Hmm.. did the guy you talked to in the phone have a certain tone on his voice while saying that? or is it just small talk of reassurance to you as a customer?

That's the same thing I was wondering, but if the rep really said "if you catch my meaning" then you can tell the tone of his voice just from that.

Hopefully this is true!

[angemon89]

Originally Posted by pkoury

Hmmm I like the sound of that.

Now go buy a Mac Mini and see what it says in your order status!!

Lol. Take one for the team Grimace!

[petermcphee]

Was it a retail rep you spoke to? If so, where were they located? This is interesting news...

[Superman07]

Originally Posted by onvn

Hmm.. did the guy you talked to in the phone have a certain tone on his voice while saying that? or is it just small talk of reassurance to you as a customer?



LOL.. i see you are a very diplomatic.. not a bad thing to have!

Yes, well I looked at the title and immediately thought something had been announced (no, my expectations aren't hgih... ). Regardless, I do appreciate the information and what we can deduce from it.

[onvn]

Originally Posted by angemon89

That's the same thing I was wondering, but if the rep really said "if you catch my meaning" then you can tell the tone of his voice just from that.

Hopefully this is true!

I do hope it's true too! but the average Apple customer, I would think, wouldn't know 'his meaning', assuming he is implying a new iMac release.. Not everyone reads macrumours.com do they?? or do they??

[apricot09]

Sounds promising!

I'm trying not to get too excited, but as I've been waiting since Xmas a few days more won't matter.

[onvn]

The following thread show another supporting evidence that the iMac release is indeed imminent.. but only time will tell..

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=642823

........
...........
..............

..can't wait..

[Grimace]

It wasn't from the normal Apple retail supply chain. I go through a corporate rep because of large volume. I can't say that I know the folks there on a first-name basis, but we place enough orders to have a good working relationship.

As far as tone goes, I took it to mean what we are all assuming - that an update is imminent. Then again, that is my assumption, but there would be no reason to say that I would enjoy waiting for a product in the long run, for any other reason that I can think of.

Of note, I ordered a 24" iMac with a lot of custom options, and that shipped right away. Maybe the stock is actually dwindling on the 20"s and they need to push 24"s out the door.

Again, this is mere speculation, but from the spoken tone and the fact that they have always taken care of me (when possible) in the past, I'm led to believe that we'll see something new next week.

It isn't unheard of for Apple to release updated computers a few weeks after MacWorld. So, we'll see!

[MattZani]

Best Case - New iMacs Released, New Design, i7 etc.

Worst Case - the 20" Is Discontinued.

[Derek87]

i so hope this is true...my 4.5 year old dual G5 Powermac died a couple of weeks ago and i've been left in a quandry of how long i can last without a computer.

i think an either updated iMac or mac mini would fit my needs.

i'm trying to be patient and balance the reality that i'm struggling without having a computer at home and not wanting to buy a computer just before an update is released... :\

(of course if i didn't rumor sites like this, i probably would have already ordered a new computer. )

[Yamcha]

I guess its possible that we might see the new iMacs soon.. i hope so!!

[barkmonster]

let's hope they're core 2 quad based and allow more RAM expansion.

[markiv810]

Originally Posted by barkmonster

let's hope they're core 2 quad based and allow more RAM expansion.

Also having an LED backlit with a decent enough graphics card to take advantage of OpenCL in the upcoming Snow Leopard with ability to play games in decent resolution.

[simplymuzik3]

If the iMac is released next week, does that mean that the mac mini will also be released at the same time?

[iMacmatician]

Originally Posted by Grimace

This certainly falls in the realm of speculation, but I ordered a number of baseline 20" iMacs for work, with no custom configuration, and I've had my order delayed for a week, followed by this message today:

Due to an unexpected delay, we are unable to ship the following item(s)
by the date that you were originally quoted:


MB324LL/A, IMAC 20/2.66/2GB/320GB/SD-USA
will now ship on or before
Feb 05, 2009

Please note that product availability can change rapidly, and it is
possible that your order may ship much sooner than we anticipate. You
may even receive a shipment confirmation between the time we send this
email and the time that you read it.

That seemed odd, as it is the stock model, advertised to ship in 24 hours. I called Apple to inquire about the delay, and my regional rep (east coast) said that, "the delay would be well worth it in the long run, if you catch my meaning."

Apple innuendo is so delightful! I smell an updated iMac soon!

Wow! I guess the release date could be imminent, not March/April!

Better not get our hopes up though.

[pkoury]

Don't they typically do media events for stuff like this? Wouldn't there be an invitation out to media outlets in that case?

[jaw04005]

Originally Posted by pkoury

Don't they typically do media events for stuff like this? Wouldn't there be an invitation out to media outlets in that case?

Not for speed bumps or incremental upgrades. For new case designs, speed bumps and incremental upgrades ... yes.

It doesn't look like much is changing other than we might get Core 2 Quads and new NVIDIA graphics (and logic boards).

[iMacmatician]

Originally Posted by jaw04005

Not for speed bumps or incremental upgrades. For new case designs, speed bumps and incremental upgrades ... yes.

The original MacBook was one exception, but the only one I can think of.