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Best Buy running low on MacBooks ahead of new arrivals?
A back order of MacBooks at Best Buy could be yet another sign that Apple has new notebooks around the corner.
Best Buy is showing a one- to two-week delay on both 15.4-inch $1,999 MacBook Pros--the exact configuration that was rumored to be on tap earlier this month--as well as 13.3-inch MacBooks. AppleInsider has also heard from a reseller who claims orders are "trickling in" in preparation for a new launch.
Signs that new MacBook Pros are around the corner continue to trickle out.
(Credit: Apple)Rumors of new notebooks have been swirling for weeks as a confluence of different events point to the possibility of new MacBook Pros. Intel has new Penryn-class notebook chips out, which are starting to be adopted in larger numbers by PC companies. And Apple hasn't updated the basic design of the MacBook Pro in an awfully long time.
That doesn't necessarily mean that a new design is forthcoming with the next revision to the notebook lineup, but the new Penryn chips are almost a certainty to help boost the performance of the MacBook and MacBook Pro. There have also been rumors that Apple will bring the iPhone-like touchpad capabilities introduced on the MacBook Air to the rest of the MacBook lineup, which would require the inclusion of a new controller chip in the systems.
Apple tends to like Tuesdays as "new product days," a tradition that was recently upheld with the higher-capacity iPhone and iPod models introduced a few weeks back. Something is clearly brewing for the end of this month, with details on the iPhone software developers kit expected to arrive any day now, and now evidence that Best Buy is running low on MacBooks during a quarter that's almost always seasonally slower than the fourth.
Tom Krazit, a staff writer for CNET News, focuses on all things Apple. He has covered traditional PC companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, chip companies such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, and mobile computers ranging from Research In Motion's to Palm's. E-mail Tom.
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12:18 pm Pac Time shows 24 hour availability for the models
mentioned...
Having 24hr availability from apple's site means nothing. Apple
can control there own inventory easier. They prefer to not have
their computers sit on a shelf for more than 90 days. So that a)
you have the best chance of getting the latest tech. and b) so
that every mac that is bought is within it's 90 days of phone
support right out of the box. It's marked with what year and
week it was made. And apple likes to keep them fresh and
retailers don't care.
So if apple were to send best buy a 1000 macbooks, best buy probably wouldn't send those back to apple, for fear of being
out of stock. And you might end up buying a macbook that was
made 7 months ago. So to combat this apple limits the supply.