Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

COVID-19 lockdown in China may slow Mac Studio shipments

By

Anyone ordering Apple’s recently unveiled Mac Studio desktop should carefully be eyeing the shipping date as a COVID-19-related lockdown in the Chinese city of Shenzhen threatens to leave customers waiting longer than originally expected to receive their new machines.

Announced on Sunday, March 13, the lockdown in one of the world’s busiest tech hubs will force the city’s suppliers and manufacturing facilities to close for at least a week. Apple supplier Foxconn has already announced the temporary closure of several Shenzhen manufacturing sites, one of which produces iPhones.

Recommended Videos

Apple unveiled the new Mac Studio during a special event on Tuesday, March 8. The device comes in two flavors — the M1 Max and the more powerful M1 Ultra.

Related

Even before the Shenzhen lockdown has had a chance to have an impact, shipping dates for the Mac Studio were already slipping. The base Mac Studio M1 Max currently shows a shipping time of between three and four weeks, while the base model with the M1 Ultra shows a wait time between six and seven weeks, with Apple Insider noting that the original shipping time for the more powerful machine was just a couple of weeks.

When people start customizing the M1 Ultra machine for improved specs, the shipping date increases to up to 12 weeks, pushing delivery into June.

While overall COVID-19 cases in Shenzhen and China in general are still low compared to many places, the nation’s zero-COVID strategy means that any outbreaks are met with localized mass testing and strict curbs on human interaction until new infections are eliminated.

Of course, multiple factors can impact shipping times, including Apple’s own manufacturing timetable that it sets ahead of time based on sales estimates of its new devices. Supply chain issues caused by the ongoing pandemic are already impacting the tech sector, but the shutdown in an important hub like Shenzhen could cause even more problems in the coming weeks.

Digital Trends has reached out to Apple for information on the extent to which the latest lockdown is expected to impact its global operation and we will update this article when we hear back.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
The 6 key things Apple must fix in the next version of macOS
Craig Federighi introducing macOS Sonoma at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2023.

I use macOS every day, and there’s no doubt that I love it as an operating system. Yet, despite how full of genuinely brilliant features it is, there are still a handful of things I just wish it did better.

Luckily, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is just a month away, which means there’s not long until we see what kind of software improvements Apple has in store for us. I’ve been thinking hard about what kind of changes I’d like to see happen, from Siri to Stage Manager and everything in-between. Here are the key areas I think Apple needs to fix in macOS 15.
Hey Siri, meet AI
Even when I ask Siri for the WWDC date, it can't give me a straight answer. Digital Trends

Read more
Apple has backed itself into a corner
Apple iPad Pro 11 with Apple Magic Keyboard.

Apple is rumored to finally be updating its new iPads at its forthcoming May 7 event. While this may come as a relief to anyone who’s been patiently waiting to upgrade their iPad Pro or iPad Air, a new report has thrown the whole situation into confusion.

That’s because the latest Power On newsletter from Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman claims that the upcoming iPad Pro will contain an Apple M4 chip. On first blush, that doesn’t seem all that unusual -- the iPad Pro has come with an Apple silicon chip for years, after all. But here’s the wrinkle: this launch plan would mean the iPad will get an M4 chip before the Mac, and that has all kinds of weird implications. By delaying the iPad for so long, it looks like Apple has left itself with a very odd update cycle for its chips this time around.
The end of the M3 Ultra?

Read more
Does your Mac need antivirus software in 2024? We asked the experts
A hacker typing on an Apple MacBook laptop while holding a phone. Both devices show code on their screens.

It’s an age-old question among Apple fans: Does your Mac need antivirus software? Traditionally, the popular answer has been no -- Macs have strong built-in protections, the argument goes, and antivirus apps can potentially slow down your computer. In the end, the trade-off didn’t seem to be worth it.

But is that still true today? After all, Macs are increasingly becoming a target of cybercriminals, with some Mac malware strains supposedly even being created by nation states. In that kind of situation, has the game changed?

Read more