17-inch MacBook Pro delayed two weeks

Bad news for those of you waiting on pins and needles for the 17-inch MacBook Pro -- it's been delayed to at least February 19th. According to an email Apple's sending to pre-order customers, "wrapping up the new 17-inch MacBook Pro is taking a few days longer than we projected," and orders won't ship for another two weeks. Guess cramming all that fancy new sealed battery tech in that new unibody enclosure wasn't so easy, now was it? Full text of the email after the break.

[Thanks, Roy]

--
To Our Valued Apple Customer:


Thank you again for your order!

Wrapping up the new 17-inch MacBook Pro is taking a few days longer
than we projected.

As a result, we will be unable to ship your 17-inch MacBook Pro
until February 19, 2009.

If you don't want to wait, you may cancel your order and receive a
prompt refund by calling our toll-free customer service number at
800-676-2775 or by visiting our online order status website at
http://www.apple.com/orderstatus.

If we do not hear from you before we ship the 17-inch MacBook Pro to
you, we will assume that you have agreed to this shipment delay. In
that event, a shipment notification with tracking information will be
emailed to you as soon as your order is shipped.

Again, there is no need to contact us unless you wish to cancel
your order.

We appreciate your business and apologize for any inconvenience this
delay may have caused you.

Thank you for shopping at the Apple Online Store!

Sincerely,
The Apple Online Store

[valdeair @ Feb 4th 2009 5:22PM]

Allah is the Greatest!!!

[Alex Linhares @ Feb 5th 2009 12:57AM]

17 inchers are a bag of hurt.

[I am not iEye, i swear @ Feb 4th 2009 5:22PM]

Valentines day is RUINED!!!

ah well, I guess the demand just went up a notch..

[alan @ Feb 4th 2009 5:24PM]

gotta delay for the big screen transition. people need to get their vouchers before they can buy just like DTV

[required @ Feb 4th 2009 5:25PM]

I want. Hopefully soon I will have.

[JR @ Feb 4th 2009 5:27PM]

Why don't the 17' Pros have a numerical keypad built in?

[g3n3tix @ Feb 4th 2009 5:28PM]

Because numpads are a bag of hurt.

[Rafael Illan @ Feb 4th 2009 6:10PM]

to save money since the 15.4" and 17" uses the same keyboard

[Leindurstit @ Feb 4th 2009 5:30PM]

Because they're not meant for real work (see: glossy-only screen.)

[Shattered Ice @ Feb 4th 2009 5:31PM]

Its a feature. If any apple customer had a numerical keypad the could work out how much apple try to overcharge.
/j

[Patrick Sutton @ Feb 4th 2009 5:34PM]

Actually the new 17 Inch has a Matte display option.

[dkrift @ Feb 4th 2009 5:35PM]

Mac users have no need for math.

[Maykel @ Feb 4th 2009 5:35PM]

@Leindurstit 17" MBP's have an anti-glare display upgrade. Just FYI.

[nerdtalker @ Feb 4th 2009 5:39PM]

Because macbook pro users don't use numbers. They're too cool for numbers. They're also way too cool for how cramped that aluminum is gonna be with a num-pad on it.

They're busy doing indie things like uploading pictures of them at the latest Of Montreal concert or listening to the Decemberists, or doing some Deviantart, or iTunes, or Last.fm, or... Catch my drift?

[b @ Feb 4th 2009 5:39PM]

17-inch mbp does have a matte finish option mate!

[Leindurstit @ Feb 4th 2009 5:42PM]

Wow, missed that (you know, cared so much.) Still, it costs $50 more.

[jmayone @ Feb 4th 2009 5:48PM]

Because Apple knows their customer. I have never seen a Macbook operated by someone that would know what to do with these keys. Art students, spoiled brats and fan boys alike buy these because they believe they need it for iTunes, didn't you know?

[Andrew @ Feb 4th 2009 5:48PM]

Because 17' (

[Eric @ Feb 4th 2009 5:55PM]

Every Mac laptop has a keypad. You hit the proper function key, and a group of keys, a bit right from center, become the keypad. And it's market. Not as easy for muscle memory as a keypad to the right, but then if you really want something like that,you can buy a USB keypad and be done with simulations and laptop keyboards.

The rest of the commenters on this topic can now sit in the Vista corner of shame with their pointy little hats, knowing they are in a bag of hurt for being so ignorant.

[JP @ Feb 4th 2009 6:00PM]

Have you ever tried writing on a laptop with a numeric keypad? I already tried, and it's awful.

The keyboard is not centered with the screen, so you're always a bit on the left, hitting the wrong letters when you want to go back to the center.

[JR @ Feb 4th 2009 6:04PM]

Eric- My point (and I suspect you know this) is that most 17" laptops take advantage of the extra space and include a separate keypad to the right of the normal keyboard. Yes, I know that you can hit a function key to reassign the letter keys and them as number keys. Every laptop I've ever seen has that near-useless capability.

[nikster @ Feb 4th 2009 6:07PM]

Because I wouldn't buy it if it had a numpad. I never use a numpad, I don't need 20 (?) extra keys on my keyboard that I never use, it's ugly, and the keyboard would be off-center.

As it is, I am buying it. Money talks.

[XGM @ Feb 4th 2009 7:39PM]

Actually the real reason behind this is cooling... The spaces on beth sides intake the air for the fans and cooling, they also have the speakers and light sensors under there.

[who? @ Feb 5th 2009 12:44AM]

Apple was the first one with a 17" laptop on the market, so the question should be:

Why do all of the 17" PC Laptops have fugly @ss keypads?

[jstevens85 @ Feb 5th 2009 7:44AM]

"Mac users have no need for math"

Brian Cox - Theoretical Particle Physicist - http://www.apple.com/science/profiles/briancox/

"“When you look around a physics conference now, you see more Macs than anything else,” says Cox. “I think that's because they're essentially UNIX, and that makes it very easy for everybody who's used UNIX in particle physics for the past 20 or 30 years."
"“The 17-inch MacBook Pro is my main computer, but I've got the MacBook Air as well, which is fantastic. "

[Giroro @ Feb 4th 2009 5:26PM]

OH. MY. GAWD!!!!!

THIS IS A TRAGEDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MY LIFE WILL BE COMPLETELY AFFECTED BY THIS!!!!!!

In other news, linux was not delayed, because it isn't a computer.

[Leindurstit @ Feb 4th 2009 5:39PM]

What...

[zed @ Feb 4th 2009 8:50PM]

linux makes laptops?

[Dustin @ Feb 4th 2009 5:28PM]

If Apples slogan is Think Different; why do they have only 2 laptops to choose from?

[AVG @ Feb 4th 2009 6:39PM]

Because those two options are so radically different from one another.

[nerdtalker @ Feb 4th 2009 6:47PM]

Because you're already so indie, hip, and coooooool just by owning one.

Don't ask questions. This kind of behavior is frowned upon by apple. ::sad mac face::

[Alex @ Feb 4th 2009 7:06PM]

Not counting the different tiers of each, I count three: MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air.

[Aaron @ Feb 4th 2009 7:08PM]

by 2 you mean 4 (sort of 5) right?
Macbook air
Macbook (white)
Machook
Macbook Pro 15 inch
Macbook Pro 17 inch

[nerdtalker @ Feb 4th 2009 8:56PM]

"Machook"

OMG LEAK LEAK LEAK HURRY GET ON THE PRESSES, APPLE IS GONNA RELEASE THE Machook OMG OMG OMG

Pffft...

[Chavez @ Feb 4th 2009 9:15PM]

Damn it, Apple really should release a "Machoke". The number of people (read: hookers) I need to choke just keeps on rising every year. I'm prepared to buy a stand-alone device to take care of all my choking needs. APPLE ARE YOU LISTENING?

[kigamoosh @ Feb 5th 2009 1:16PM]

"Machoke"? Is this the start of the best Nintendo-Apple partnership ever? MUST iCATCH THEM ALL?

[Dan @ Feb 4th 2009 5:28PM]

I ordered one a month ago... WHY WHY WHY is this happening to me?

[Elijah @ Feb 4th 2009 6:27PM]

Because you didn't pay attention...

[Cide @ Feb 5th 2009 1:08AM]

you can't always get what you want
but if you try sometimes you might find
you get what you need

[Johann @ Feb 4th 2009 5:30PM]

If I could afford one, then I would be worried.

[Dummy00001 @ Feb 4th 2009 6:32PM]

It's funny. In the times of the crisis, I'm relaxed. On my current job, I was (over)working for past two years in emergency mode. I had to have a hard awakening that there is a crisis and my company fires people. Yet, they still keep me busy (or rather I allow myself to be kept busy) and crisis simply goes unnoticed by me.

Upshot: due to amount of work I totally had no time to spend my increased wages over past year or so. First time in my life, looking down on $3k lappie I can calmly say "Hey, I can afford that."

[AVG @ Feb 4th 2009 6:40PM]

Dude. What the fuck.

[FILA @ Feb 4th 2009 5:29PM]

not a mac fan, and I don't keep up with it, and i kno ima get all kinds of hate but here it goes...

...Every new one looks exactly the same as the previous, with what to gain? extra minute in battery life or something. just like a new ipod every year for the most part, like you really need a new nano each fall, o wow, new colors, and o look this one has a wide fat screen on this years. fucking christ

[Patriks7 @ Feb 4th 2009 5:41PM]

Obviously you don't keep up with it, as they were all redesigned in the last update.

[DCheat @ Feb 4th 2009 5:42PM]

It's because Apple innovates, not duplicates!

[Dummy00001 @ Feb 4th 2009 6:26PM]

It's going to be probably slimmest out of all 17" lappies. They also improved screen protection (the rubber thing on the rim - like in the 15")

Also likely to have longest battery life. (Unless of course benchmarkers will not forget to close iTunes playing in background.)

Frankly, I'm looking for desktop replacement - with optional portability - and 17" fits my bill. And is quite portable.

Yes, it's overpriced. But Apple - unlike many other producers - my trust in them.

P.S. And heck, it comes with bash and Perl5 preinstalled!! What's more a *nix guy like me can ask for?!

[cmdwedge @ Feb 4th 2009 9:07PM]

There is nothing I hate more on the internet right now, than people using the faux-word 'ima'. Ima punch you in the face, ya feels me?

[lostarchitect @ Feb 4th 2009 5:30PM]

i almost ordered one yesterday, but I went with 15" instead. now i'm glad.

[ebrentnelson @ Feb 4th 2009 5:38PM]

advice to all:

buy a 15" MacBook Pro instead... got one this week and they are tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight! The trackpad is sooooo smooth... the battery is so removable!

[nikster @ Feb 4th 2009 7:42PM]

If it had 8 hours battery life, I would....