If you've been waiting by the mailbox for that slightly oversized package to arrive... the wait just got a bit longer. Our correspondents have been sending in the news this afternoon that the expected ship date on the 17" unibody MacBook Pro has been pushed to February 19 -- the original ship date was supposed to be Tuesday 2/3, so this is a big drag if you had plans for that big screen on Valentine's Day.

The complete email below:

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

Apple posted details about how much it will cost to replace the battery in the new 17-inch MacBook Pro notebooks announced at last week's Macworld Expo.

The cost works out as follows:

• United States: $179
• Canada: C$219
• Europe: €179 (including VAT)
• United Kingdom: £139 (including VAT)
• Japan: ¥19,800 (including tax)
• Australia: A$299 (including VAT)
• China: 1498 RMB (including VAT)

Apple says batteries can be replaced and your laptop returned to you the same day if you make an appointment at an Apple retail store. Otherwise, mail-in replacement will take three to four business days after the unit arrives at depot.

Apple also says that battery replacement services may be available at your local Apple Authorized Service Provider, but the prices may vary from those listed on Apple's website.

Note that Apple claims these batteries will last three times as long as conventional laptop batteries (up to five years or 1,000 cycles), and any defects in the first year of ownership are covered under the existing warranty. It's not clear whether AppleCare would cover battery replacement during the extended warranty period if it wears out, since the battery is considered a consumable item. Jared points out in the comments below that AppleCare currently does cover batteries that wear our prematurely (before the rated number of charge cycles). Just FYI, you can check the cycle count of your battery via Apple System Profiler / "More Info" in About This Mac, by viewing the Power section.

At least the Apple Store wasn't down this time for too long: today, Apple introduced the 17" MacBook Pro with an Intel Core Duo processor. It's lost .1 lb, now weighing a mere 6.8 lb, and also features a built-in iSight, Front Row and MagSafe - just like its 15" little brother.

The new 17" MacBook Pro comes with a 2.16 Intel Core Duo processor, a 667 MHz front-side bus, a 36% brighter display, 1 GB of DDR2 RAM, a 120 GB 5400-rpm SATA drive (standard), a 256 MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 card and - get this: an 8x double-layer SuperDrive, one FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, and three USB 2.0 ports. I guess they had some extra room to work with in the 17" to fit in those extra features that the 15" MacBook Pro lost.

The 17" MacBook Pro sells for $2799 and will begin shipping next week.