Apple has issued an apology for delays in customer orders for its new 27" iMac. The company has been seeing high demand for the model and order times pushed back, even as there have been increasing reports of issues with the computer's screen appearing on Mac sites and Apple's support forum.

"We are working hard to fulfill orders as quickly as possible," an Apple spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal. "We apologize for any inconvenience or delay in delivery this may cause our customers."

Both 21.5" iMacs have an shipping estimate of 24 hours on the online Apple Store as of this writing, while both 27" models currently show availability of two weeks. As the most popular Mac desktop on the market and the busiest shopping season of the year, delays couldn't come at a worse time for Apple.

It's unclear if the delays relate to the complaints of screen flicker and shipping issues regarding the new Mac, though some online media outlets have connected the two. Complaints began appearing soon after the models were introduced of a screen flicker on Apple's support forum, with one post having 1,265 responses and more than 193,000 views, both of which are high on Apple's forum.

More recently, customer reports of broken or shattered screens have been reported, with one blog dedicated to this issue having been started. The Apple iMac (Fall 2009) Issues blog is collecting data relating to the issue after the site's founder received an iMac with a shattered screen out of the box.