The backlogs are reminiscent of those that faced hopeful buyers of the iPod mini last year, and the push back of the release of the newest iMac, which rolled out in September only after existing inventories of the popular platform had been exhausted. iPod mini customers waited up to six weeks for their devices to ship from Apple.
According to the notices on Apple's Web site, there is a two- to three-week wait for the $99 flash-based iPod that holds about 120 songs, while customers face a three- to four-week wait for the beefier $149 model that can store up to 240 tunes.
The Mac mini, a 6-inch square by 2-inch thick Power PC computer that chief executive Steve Jobs hoisted last week at the San Francisco MacWorld expo, has a similar log jam. Both models of the Mac mini -- which sell for $499 and $599 -- show a wait time of three to four weeks.
Other Apple products, such as the standard iPod, the iPod mini, the iMac, and Apple's various notebooks, all are listed as available to ship the same business day as when ordered.
Apple didn't immediately respond to a call for comment.