iMac supplies constrained, indicating possible refresh soon

If supplies of certain iMac models are any indication, a refresh of Apple's all-in-one iMac may be in the works. This would be the first update of the iMac line since July 27, 2010, when the Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 machines first became available.

9to5 Mac is reporting that supplies of the desktop machine are constrained worldwide at this time. An anonymous tipster provided the blog with the screenshot seen at the top of this post, showing four standard versions of the iMac in constrained status with "no ETA" for new shipments.

Not only are iMac shipments constrained, but even replacement parts are currently in short supply. Graphics processors and hard drives are particularly hard to get in the US.

As we reported at the end of March, any upcoming iMac refresh would most likely migrate the platform to Intel's powerful Sandy Bridge processors, as well as the speedy Thunderbolt I/O standard that debuted in the recent MacBook Pro refresh. At that point, we speculated that the refresh would come in late April or early May, and that time frame looks more valid every day.

If you're considering the purchase of a new iMac, you may want to put off that purchase for a month or so to benefit from any refresh of the line.