Shipping Estimates on iMacs with 2 TB Hard Drives Slip to 5-7 Weeks Amid Shortages

As noted by AppleInsider, shipping estimates for build-to-order iMac models equipped with 2 TB hard drives have slipped to a significant 5-7 week timeframe, suggesting that hard drive shortages caused by massive flooding in Thailand over the past several months may be catching up with Apple.

imac bto 2tb 5 7 weeks
Curiously, Mac Pro models configured with 2 TB drives do not show the same delays, with those build-to-order configurations shipping in just 3-5 business days. The 2 TB drive on the iMac is the only drive affected, as the standard 1 TB drive and configurable 256 GB solid state drive do not significantly boost build times. That 2 TB drive is available as a build-to-order option on the high-end 21.5-inch iMac and on both base models of the 27-inch iMac.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about the potential impact of the Thailand flooding on Apple's business during the company's October earnings conference call. Cook noted that there would undoubtedly be an industry-wide shortage of hard disk drives that would primarily affect Apple in its Mac business, but that there had yet to be a full assessment of the impact or an estimated timeline for recovery. He also declined to offer any specific information on the expected impact to Apple, noting only that any such impact was figured into the company's blockbuster revenue guidance of $37 billion for the holiday quarter.

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Top Rated Comments

BornAgainMac Avatar
177 months ago
Apple needs to design a Mac that allows easy access to the Hard Drive. The current design is insane. The Mac Pro is done right. I also liked the door in the Powermac G3. Next, they probably will solder the drive onto the motherboard with a 3 inch unique enclosure.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WiiDSmoker Avatar
177 months ago
Fortunately no one will ever need a drive larger than 1TB.

uhhh??
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lordskelic Avatar
177 months ago
To be fair, if you're at the point of ripping your iMac apart to add a HDD (which is a pain), you might as well simply sell it and buy the latest generation. Sorry but they're less friendly to get in to than a MBA with pentalobes..

Pentalobes suck.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iRCL Avatar
177 months ago
To be fair, if you're at the point of ripping your iMac apart to add a HDD (which is a pain), you might as well simply sell it and buy the latest generation. Sorry but they're less friendly to get in to than a MBA with pentalobes..
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Retrofire Avatar
177 months ago
I do, I have 4TB storage of which 3 1/2 TB is being used currently. Time Machine back-ups and videos take up a lot of space, rather quickly!

...special videos.

;-)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Xtremehkr Avatar
177 months ago
This would be a great opportunity for SSD manufacturers to go into overdrive and start bringing down the cost of SSDs so that they can be included in all future Apple computers.

I know the next modification my iMac is getting involves moving the 2TB HDD to where the superdrive is now and installing a 320GB SSD drive to realize the full speed potential of the machine.

My MacBook Pro just blazes ahead of the iMac because of the SSD, for normal tasks anyway.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)