Recently, customers have been experiencing long delivery times on a wide range of Apple products, indicating that the company is running out of stock, and in turn that it is facing a shortage of vital components to manufacture more.
According to a new report from DigiTimes, there is a risk that we may have to wait until February before Apple can adequately meet demand for the iPhone 13. The site says production is “accelerating” but only gradually, and that it will be a matter of months before we see the benefits.
In other words, customers who place an order now should be prepared for a long wait before they receive their handsets.
Apple isn’t the only retailer selling the 13-series iPhones, of course, but other companies face the same combination of high demand and low supply and aren’t doing much better. When updating our iPhone deals roundup ahead of Black Friday this month we’ve found that anyone offering an iPhone below Apple’s RRP immediately sells out – and even many of those selling at the RRP have no stock left.
You’ll struggle to find an iPhone 13 Pro Max, for example. KRCS is offering a £10 discount, but is out of stock across all four colours and every storage allocation. (You can place an order now, however, to reserve yours when the site gets more stock in, which it currently, and perhaps optimistically, estimates at 2-3 weeks.)
Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri had previously warned of likely iPhone supply constraints towards the end of the year, citing the global component shortage. We’ve also covered reports of severe Christmas shortages.
In addition to the iPhone, there are currently long wait times for the iPad, Apple Watch and some Macs. On the other hand, there seems to be no major shortage of AirPods, AirTags, the Apple TV and the HomePod mini.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation (using DeepL) and additional reporting by David Price.
