Why MacBook Air Is So Hard to Find Right Now
▼ Summary
– MacBook Air supplies are constrained in Apple Stores and online due to a global memory shortage caused by the AI buildout, per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
– Apple has added “subject to availability” disclaimers to back-to-school ads for the MacBook Air, following customer reports of empty shelves.
– Apple raised the M5 MacBook Air price by $200 in June, with CEO Tim Cook calling the memory shortage a “hundred-year flood” unlike anything in his 40+ years.
– Online orders for MacBook Airs are delayed until late August or early September, while basic iPads remain immediately available.
– Apple is exploring using Chinese memory chips for devices sold in China as a partial solution, though this effort is ongoing.
Walk into any Apple Store hunting for a standard, everyday MacBook Air and you may be greeted by empty display tables. The same scene could repeat itself at the next location you visit. This isn’t a local surge of back-to-school shoppers, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who cites anonymous sources. The real culprit is the global memory shortage driven by the massive AI infrastructure buildout.
The issue started turning heads this past week. On Tuesday, an X user pointed out that Apple’s back-to-school promotions, including those for the MacBook Air, now carry a quiet “subject to availability” disclaimer.
Back in June, Apple raised the M5 MacBook Air’s price by $200, and CEO Tim Cook described the memory crunch as a “hundred-year flood” unlike anything he’s witnessed in over four decades. Some memory configurations for other Apple devices have quietly vanished from the online store altogether. But now, sources inside Apple’s retail operations tell Bloomberg that MacBook Air supplies are, in Gurman’s words, “more constrained than they can ever recall.”
Order a MacBook Air online today and the earliest delivery window likely lands near the end of this month, with certain models slipping into early August. I tested this myself: a basic MacBook Air order showed a delivery date in the week of August 19-25. A basic iPad, by contrast, promised arrival by Tuesday, with same-day pickup available.
Gurman confirms the shortage “is indeed tied to the ongoing memory crunch.” One workaround Apple is exploring, he notes, involves sourcing Chinese memory chips for devices destined for the Chinese market, though that effort remains a work in progress.
(Source: Gizmodo.com)
