How long for CTO to arrive from Apple?

[pinkoos]

For those of you who built to order directly from Apple, how long did it take for your mini to arrive?

Did it arrive sooner than the date quoted by Apple, later or on the date?

If you chose to pick up at your local Apple Store, did it arrive sooner than expected?

Thanks

 

[davethorp]

Sooner than the estimate

I ordered mine at about 5pm UK time on 22nd November. I had a delivery estimate of 27th November to 3rd November

Mac mini was dispatched directly from Foxconn in China at about 11am UK time on 23rd November, made its way to the UK over the weekend through Hong Kong, Dubai and Germany and was delivered to me about 13:00 UK time on 26th November

CTO specs were i7 Processor, 32GB RAM (didn’t fancy doing it myself), 1TB SSD and standard networking

I suspect Apple store pickup would have been similar but with the parcel being sent to the store rather than my home

 

[smbu2000]

I ordered mine on Nov. 15th. It had an estimated arrival date of Nov. 21-25 and it delivered to me in Japan on Nov. 24th.
i7/8GB (installed 32 myself after)/512GB SSD/10gigabit ethernet. The option to pick up at my local Apple Store was available, but it said pick up was available on Nov. 25th, which is why I went with the delivery option instead.

 

[Bartjes]

It took only 5 days for the Mini to arrive from China to France but another 5 days for UPS to deliver it. Contrat between UPS and Apple says that UPS tries to ring at your doorbell twice before retrieval in the nearest pickup center. I waited patiently at home but they didn't even bother to come near my flat and send back the Mini to Apple, stating that i refused the parcel. It took me several hours on the phone with UPS and Apple to get things right. So no more UPS for me, never again. The Apple call center was very correct ans did all the could to get the Mini on my desktop.

 

[pinkoos]

I wonder why there's a large span time between delivery and pick up at local Apple Store? If I try to configure one now, the difference between fast delivery and local pickup is 2-3 days. Wonder why "fast" delivery can't include local pickup as well.

 

[Ursadorable]

I've never tried to order their Chief Technology Officer before.. but BTO (build to order) shipments have arrived usually within 2 weeks.

 

[pinkoos]

Okay, I thought CTO stands for configure to order, but built to order (BTO) does make more sense and flows off the tongue more easily

 

[user_xyz]

For those of you who built to order directly from Apple, how long did it take for your mini to arrive?

Did it arrive sooner than the date quoted by Apple, later or on the date?

If you chose to pick up at your local Apple Store, did it arrive sooner than expected?

Thanks

I ordered on Sunday and was delivered to Nashville Thursday.-4 Days.

 

[Cashmonee]

I wonder why there's a large span time between delivery and pick up at local Apple Store? If I try to configure one now, the difference between fast delivery and local pickup is 2-3 days. Wonder why "fast" delivery can't include local pickup as well.

I would guess that it may take longer to get it into the distribution stream for stores than it does to simply put it on a FedEx or UPS truck to your house. Then on top of that, a store would have to inventory it and do whatever they need to do to have it ready for pickup. But that is a total guess.

 

[pinkoos]

I would guess that it may take longer to get it into the distribution stream for stores than it does to simply put it on a FedEx or UPS truck to your house. Then on top of that, a store would have to inventory it and do whatever they need to do to have it ready for pickup. But that is a total guess.

Interesting, I guess I hadn't thought of it that way. If I order, I'd love to just be able to pick up at the store to avoid the hassle of being at home for delivery, etc, but not if it's going to add another 2 to 3 days to the arrival time

 

[F-Train]

For those of you who built to order directly from Apple, how long did it take for your mini to arrive?

Did it arrive sooner than the date quoted by Apple, later or on the date?

I documented my order, its shipping widow, actual shipping and receipt on pages 4 and 5 of this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-mini-shipping.2152361/page-4

See posts 90, 92, 98-100 and 106.

While a signature is nominally required, you can provide written authorisation to leave the package at your door or with a neighbour, at least in the case of FedEx.

 

[harriska2]

Mine came almost a week earlier than the date given - straight from China through Nashville to the west coast. i5/1tb/8gb - might have been built to order.

 

[Jorbanead]

I ordered from a reseller (Adorama) and mine came to the US Westcoast within two weeks. It shipped on a Monday and was on my doorstep that Friday. I’d give them maybe 2-4 days to build your CTO and then shipping depends on your location.

 

[gusping]

Sooner than the estimate

I ordered mine at about 5pm UK time on 22nd November. I had a delivery estimate of 27th November to 3rd November

Mac mini was dispatched directly from Foxconn in China at about 11am UK time on 23rd November, made its way to the UK over the weekend through Hong Kong, Dubai and Germany and was delivered to me about 13:00 UK time on 26th November

CTO specs were i7 Processor, 32GB RAM (didn’t fancy doing it myself), 1TB SSD and standard networking

I suspect Apple store pickup would have been similar but with the parcel being sent to the store rather than my home

I feel cheap now. Went for the i7 and 16gb ram upgrade with 256GB SSD. Pretty decent for £1300 (student discount). Saved £1000 over an iMac.

 

[madrag]

I ordered mine (i7, 512GB, 8GB RAM, standard ethernet) last wednesday (5/12), it was shipped saturday (8/12), and arrived today (10/12) at 13:00 in Portugal.

They mentioned between the 12th and the 17th, so it was a lovely surprise to get it two days before the best estimate!

 

[davethorp]

I feel cheap now. Went for the i7 and 16gb ram upgrade with 256GB SSD. Pretty decent for £1300 (student discount). Saved £1000 over an iMac.

I had student discount on mine too which took it to £2100 rather than about £2300. I was considering an iMac too but went with the mini as the processors were newer and I felt I could get a better machine for the same money I would have spent on an iMac

I was hoping an iMac refresh would have landed at the same time as the Mac Mini and MacBook Air

 

[pinkoos]

So here's an answer to my own question:

I ordered the i5 but with 16GB RAM this past Monday (December 10) early morning and paid the extra $8 for "express" shipping.

Was quoted a delivery date of December 18. If I had chosen to pick up from the nearest Apple Store, I was given a date of December 20.

Anyway, my order status on the Apple site immediately said that this order was going to take longer than normal to ship and that I would be sent updates, or something to that effect.

Felt like the order was stuck in limbo (first processing, then preparing for shipment) forever, before it finally shipped on Wednesday (December 12) directly from China.

Just took delivery of it this morning (December 14) at 10:30 AM. I guess the extra $8 bought FedEx 2-3 day international shipping with delivery by 10:30AM.

So, in summary, ordered Monday morning and received it Friday morning. And, it seems Apple quotes a longer than actual delivery date, maybe to give some padding or allow the customer to be pleasantly surprised when the order arrives several days early.

 

[madrag]

Yep, but they must always give a longer estimate to manage expectations (if it arrives earlier, the customer is pleased, if it arrives on date, all is well).