As Apple battles ongoing supply constraints, availability of the MacBook Air is dwindling quickly. Here are the latest details on MacBook Air shortages across Apple and third-party retail partners.
If you buy a MacBook Air from Apple’s Online Store today, almost all configurations are quoting delivery estimates of 2-3 weeks from now. In-store availability is also constrained, with most stores quoting pickup availability during the first week of September. This applies to the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air options.
Custom configurations of the MacBook Air with higher amounts of RAM and storage are even more constrained. For example, a 13-inch MacBook Air with 32GB of RAM won’t ship for over a month, while in-store pickup isn’t available in the last week of September.
Bloomberg spotted the MacBook Air shortages earlier this month and attributed them to the ongoing industry-wide memory constraints. Mark Gurman pointed out that Apple is actively pushing shoppers to the MacBook Pro as a result of the supply constraints. According to Apple retail employees, MacBook Air shipments “are more constrained than they can ever recall.”
During Apple’s most recent earnings call, CFO Kevan Parekh warned that supply constraints affecting iPhone, iPad, and Mac will worsen as the quarter progresses.
The Apple Store, of course, is not the only place you can buy a MacBook Air. In fact, availability seems to be better from some of Apple’s retail partners.
Over on Amazon, there are a handful of MacBook Air models available with immediate delivery. Some of the configurations are even discounted below Apple’s normal price.
It’s impossible to know how plentiful Amazon’s stock of the MacBook Air is right now. Presumably, they will hit the same supply snags as Apple sooner rather than later, but availability is holding strong right now.
Select configurations of the M5 MacBook Air are also available via Apple’s Certified Refurbished Store with immediate shipment.
Apple’s Certified Refurbished Store purchases include a one-year warranty, a 14-day return policy, and eligibility for AppleCare.
If you’re in the market for a MacBook Air, I recommend buying one sooner rather than later. I expect Apple’s supply shortages to get worse before they get better. We aren’t expecting a new MacBook Air to launch until next year at the earliest — and it will just be a spec bump.
Are you shopping for a new Mac? Are the ongoing supply shortages impacting your plans? Let us know down in the comments.
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