[NewsPoster]

MacNN has learned that Apple's in-demand new Mac Pro will not be available to in store customers until as late as March or April. The information was supplied to us by an Apple Australia business sales specialist who also advised that they are being told to direct customers to the online channel as it the only way that customers can currently secure a new Mac Pro -- the advice also applies to those who may have already placed an order on a unit in store. Apple's online store is still showing that Mac Pros ordered now will not ship until sometime in February at the earliest. The only Mac Pro units to have reached some Apple Stores are demonstrator units and this is not expected to change for some months.

Apple started promoting the Mac Pro in June last year and advised customers at the time that its stunning new workstation would be available in December 2013. At best, only a handful of customers had their orders fulfilled on December 30, with Apple just meeting its self-imposed shipping deadline. Most of the early units in the wild have been review units supplied by Apple to various publications, although there are reports that some regular customers have begun receiving their orders. Early reports suggest that Mac Pro units currently reaching customers are standard configurations only, with CTO models yet to start shipping from Apple's Austin, Texas-based factory.

The new Mac Pro is the first substantial redesign of the Mac Pro line in several years with the last minor update made to the line in 2010, which led many to believe that Apple might abandon the 'Pro' market altogether. With a lack of internal storage options, some critics have argued that the new Mac Pro isn't a truly 'Pro' machine. However, others have pointed to its six Thunderbolt 2 ports for expandability and arguing that Apple has embraced a trend towards a modular computing model where the workstation merely acts as a powerful hub. The new Mac Pro can support up to 36 Thunderbolt devices, and is powered by Intel 'Ivy Bridge' based Xeon E5 processors in configurations of four, six, eight or twelve cores and sports dual-AMD graphics chips.

[rtamesis]

Sounds like Apple badly underestimated the demand for the Mac Pro after years of trying to encourage power users to get iMacs instead.

[msuper69]

Ahhhhh, this brings back the bad old days when Apple couldn't deliver new products for some time after announcement.
This too shall pass.

[b9bot]

A business specialist isn't going to know when shipments to stores will be available. Take this news with a very micro sized grain of salt.

[Charles Martin]

rtamesis: while I agree that Apple probably underestimated pent-up demand, I don't think that is all that is going on here. Apple has essentially set up an entirely new and cutting-edge manufacturing facility in the US to make these things, it takes a while to get those fully up to speed. Also, after the initial rush of orders, we are likely to see a drop in demand as supply normalizes. I think Apple got caught a little short, but will catch up over Jan-Feb.

[Waragainstsleep]

Apple has never been afraid to run low on supplies for a little bit. The harder things are to get, the more people want them.