Want to Buy a New MacBook Today? Apple Can’t Help You

Daniel Bean
·Assistant Editor
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It turns out the Watch isn’t the only hot new Apple product that’s proving hard to find at retail.

Waltz into an Apple Store today asking for a new 12-inch MacBook and you’ll likely be sent away empty-handed. Locations that we’ve checked (several in New York City, San Francisco, and elsewhere) are telling us they’ve had trouble keeping the company’s slick new laptop in stock. Small-unit shipments that trickle in are being snatched up quickly by early-morning buyers, leaving a running inventory of zero.

Related: The Thinnest, Loveliest MacBook You’ll Never Buy

On Wednesday, Apple’s online store showed an “available” date of July 30 for its new laptop, if you choose to have it sent off to an Apple Store for pickup. Shelling out extra for express shipping ($13) means that you could have one at your door sometime between July 21 and July 28.

Even then, Apple’s online store won’t let you buy more than two of these $1300+ items at a time.

Unlike the supply shortage Apple faced at the April launch of MacBook, the current backorder looks like it applies to all three colors, not just the enviable gold version.

Apple did not immediately respond to our questions about the scarcity of its latest and most darling MacBook. So we’re left wondering: “What gives?”

NPD market analyst Stephen Baker told us that it’s possible the company simply underestimated demand for its new MacBook.

“Apple is usually conservative in its forecast on something new,” Baker wrote in an email to Yahoo Tech. “But they also have a pretty tight supply chain. So they can normally get back in stock fairly quickly.”

So in the meantime, where – besides from a price-gouging eBayer – can you get a 2015 MacBook in a timely manner?

“If you really need a MacBook right now … I would say to look for smaller volume retailers online who might sell Macs or maybe a local Mac reseller,” suggested Baker.

Or you can go the big box route and get one shipped to you relatively quickly. Best Buy stores, typically the second most reliable place to purchase an Apple gadget, appear to be facing a similar shortage of in-stock MacBooks. But if you’re willing to shell out an extra $30, BestBuy.com claims it will ship you a laptop on the color of your choice in two days. There’s also a free shipping option that takes about a week.

And if that’s not good enough, well, can we interest you in a MacBook Air, perhaps? 

Email me at danbean@yahoo-inc.com. Follow me on Twitter at danielwbean.

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