MacBook Neo facing 3-week delays at Apple, here’s how to buy one sooner

If you’re in the market for Apple’s colorful new MacBook Neo, you might have to wait a few weeks to get your hands on one. Here’s the latest on MacBook Neo availability, and where you might be able to find one sooner.

Where to buy MacBook Neo

There are a lot of reasons to prefer to buy your new Mac from Apple itself, especially if you’re trading in an old device or looking to finance with Apple Card. However, Amazon currently has a better selection of MacBook Neo inventory available for immediate delivery.

As you can see below, Apple’s website is currently quoting shipping estimates of 2-3 weeks for all MacBook Neo configurations. In-store availability varies by location, and some cities do have same-day pickup available. Most, however, are also quoting pick-up times of 2-3 weeks.

MacBook Neo with 256GB storage, no Touch ID

Silver:

  • Apple Stores: Varies, generally 3-4 weeks in most metros.
  • Apple Online: 2-3 weeks
  • Amazon: 3-4 days

Blush:

  • Apple Stores: Varies, generally 3-4 weeks in most metros.
  • Apple Online: 2-3 weeks
  • Amazon: 2-4 weeks

Citrus:

  • Apple Stores: Varies, generally 3-4 weeks in most metros.
  • Apple Online: 2-3 weeks
  • Amazon: 1-2 weeks

Indigo:

  • Apple Stores: Varies, generally 3-4 weeks in most metros.
  • Apple Online: 2-3 weeks
  • Amazon: 3-5 weeks

MacBook Neo with 512GB storage, Touch ID

Silver:

  • Apple Stores: Varies, generally 3-4 weeks in most metros.
  • Apple Online: 2-3 weeks
  • Amazon: 1-2 days

Blush:

  • Apple Stores: Varies, generally 3-4 weeks in most metros.
  • Apple Online: 2-3 weeks
  • Amazon: 1-2 days

Citrus:

  • Apple Stores: Varies, generally 3-4 weeks in most metros.
  • Apple Online: 2-3 weeks
  • Amazon: 1-2 days

Indigo:

  • Apple Stores: Varies, generally 3-4 weeks in most metros.
  • Apple Online: 2-3 weeks
  • Amazon: 1-2 days

In addition to Apple and Amazon, MacBook Neo is also sold at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Costco. Your mileage will vary wildly based on local inventory at those retailers, though. It’s worth giving those retailers a shot too.

9to5Mac’s Take

It’s pretty wild to me that right now that you can’t just walk into an Apple Store and buy either of Apple’s cheapest Mac models. In addition to MacBook Neo’s supply constraints, Mac mini is even more backordered. Apple’s Online Store currently shows the base model Mac mini backordered to mid-May. Things are slightly better at Amazon, but you still can’t get a Mac mini right away.

And as we highlighted last week, the story is even worse at the high-end, with some Mac Studio configurations pushed all the way to August and September.

What’s different, I think, is that MacBook Neo’s supply shortages are due to Apple’s miscalculation of demand. A report today suggested Apple misgauged MacBook Neo demand so bad it might run out of A18 Pro chips entirely.

Mac mini’s supply shortages are likely driven by two things. First, an increase in demand for the product itself driven by AI tools and agents like OpenClaw. There’s also, of course, an industry-wide shortage of components specifically impacting RAM.

My assumption is that supply shortages for the base model Mac mini are primarily due to the former, while higher-end configuration delays are primarily due to the latter.

Either way, it’s a weird time to be in the market for a Mac. The good news, however, is that the new M5 MacBook Air seems largely unaffected by these delays. You can get a MacBook Air from Apple same-day in select configurations, and within a week or so in almost all other configs.

Apple is set to report its quarterly earnings on April 30, and I expect we learn more about the current state of its supply chain then.

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