Some M1 iMacs are shipping ahead of May 21 delivery

Apple Imac Orange 2021 Hero
Apple Imac Orange 2021 Hero (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Some people are seeing their M1 iMacs ship.
  • Early orders are set to be delivered on May 21.

Some people have taken to social media to share that their M1 iMac has shipped ahead of an expected delivery date of May 21.

The new 24-inch iMac is the first to come with an Apple M1 chip inside rather than the Intel chips we've become accustomed to. It's also a return to colors for the iMac line, with plenty of brighter options available for those who like to stand out from the crowd.

There doesn't seem to be any link between the models and colors ordered and whether they have begun to ship so anyone with an order in should probably have a look to see if their iMac is making its move.

Unfortunately, we wouldn't get too hopeful for an early delivery, however. Apple often ships products early and has a courier hold them more locally ahead of the official release date. That's set to be May 21, so you're going to have to wait a week or so regardless.

Products announced for the same release window, namely the M1 iPad Pro and new Apple TV 4K are yet to ship – although the former has moved to "ready to ship" for a ton of people already. The new iPad, in particular, is proving popular with some great deals to be had.

Anyone whose orders still display "processing" or "preparing to ship" shouldn't worry. If your expected delivery date was May 21 you should still be good for launch day. Be sure to check out our collection of the best iMac deals around the internet before making any new orders, too.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.