Shoppers waiting until the last minute to pre-order their iPad will be facing a week long delay now that Apple has pushed the ship date for new orders from April 3 out to April 12. iPad orders placed before Saturday are still scheduled for delivery on April 3.
The 16GB, 32GB and 64GB Wi-Fi only iPad models are set to hit store shelves on Saturday, April 3, and the Wi-Fi plus 3G models are still scheduled for a late April release. Apple also pulled the option to reserve an iPad for in-store pickup on launch day.
Pushing out the ship date for new Wi-Fi iPad orders means that Apple most likely has run through its inventory for pre-orders, reservations and walk-in purchases. For shoppers willing to wait in line next Saturday, there’s still a chance they’ll be able to pick up an iPad on the first day of availability, but once the supply runs out it looks like it will be about a week before more units are available.