Apple Expecting iPad and Mac Supply Shortages in Second Half of 2021

Apple today announced its earnings for the second quarter of 2021 and held an earnings call during which Cook was asked what we can expect for Macs and iPads during the second half of the year in terms of supply.

Cook said that he would not provide product level details, but that there would be supply issues affecting the iPad and Mac lines.

"To Luca's point about shortages, those shortages primarily affect ‌iPad‌ and Mac," he said. "We expect to be supply gated, not demand gated."

The question was related to the chip shortages that have been affecting many technology companies. One analyst asked Cook when supply constraints might ease and when the industry might overcome some of the supply dynamics, and Cook said it was difficult to give a good answer, but Apple would do its best meeting product demand.

Most of the issue is legacy nodes, not just in our industry but other industries as well. In order to answer that question accurately, we would need to know the true demand from each player and how that changes over the next few months, so it's difficult to give a good answer.

We have a good handle on our demand, but what everybody else is doing, I don't know. We will do our best, that's what I can tell you.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri confirmed that Apple has seen an impact from the chip shortages and will see a sequential decline of approximately $3 to $4 billion revenue in Q3 2021 due to ‌iPad‌ and Mac supply constraints.

The constraints come from semiconductor shortages that are affecting many industries and it's a combination of the shortages and the very high level of demand that we're seeing for both iPad and Mac.

Rumors have already suggested that the 12.9-inch M1 iPad Pro will be in short supply when pre-orders open this Friday, though that may be due to issues with the mini-LED display. Apple is preparing to launch both new ‌M1‌ ‌iPad Pro‌ models and new ‌M1‌ iMacs, and it sounds like customers who want one of the devices should be prepared to order as soon as pre-orders go live in order to avoid long waits for the new products.