Apple is struggling with severe stock shortages for its most popular Mac, the MacBook Air, as an industrywide memory crunch continues to squeeze the tech giant’s supply chain.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the supply bottlenecks that previously restricted lower-volume devices like the Mac mini and Mac Studio have now spread to the MacBook Air. U.S. Retail store sources report that shipments of new units are tighter than ever recorded.
Customers attempting to buy a new base-level MacBook Air through Apple’s online store are seeing delivery estimates pushed back to the end of August. Certain combinations of display sizes, finish colours, and custom memory setups face even longer delays, with arrival dates slipping into early September. These month-long shipping delays are nearly unprecedented for a laptop refreshed with the M5 chip back in March, just five months ago.
The inventory squeeze is blamed directly from the global memory shortage. To help ease the pressure, Apple is preparing to source memory modules from suppliers in China, though those components will strictly power devices sold within that country. The company has also jacked prices across the lineup by a couple hundred dollars to offset rising costs.
At the same time, Apple is shifting its focus to pushing sales of the 14-inch MacBook Pro. This move helps the company clear existing stock in anticipation of an M6 chip refresh planned for this fall. A refreshed MacBook Air is not expected to launch until later.
The inventory shortages are also affected Apple’s annual back-to-school marketing push, which was delayed from its traditional June launch due to the memory shortage. Across its retail locations and online store, Apple is actively directing buyers toward the entry-level MacBook Pro instead of the MacBook Air. Some marketing materials even feature a rare disclaimer warning that “MacBook Air subject to availability”.
Looking at MacBook Air availability in Canada, yes, there are delays here too. If you want to order a customized MacBook Air with more RAM and a bigger hard drive, we’re seeing delivery windows of September 8-15 in our area, which is more than a month away. The base model with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD is showing a delivery window of August 25 to September 1. That’s a big wait for students looking to get their hands on a new laptop before school.
Your best bet to grab a MacBook Air now is to hit up Amazon.ca, as the entry model is showing it can arrive by August 11 or earlier, depending on your location.
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