Those that have been drooling over the 17-inch version of the MacBook Pro and have either placed an order or are thinking about placing an order might like to know that it is very likely that Apple will not be able to deliver it until late February or early March at the soonest.

While the Web site is still telling potential customers that it will ship in 2 to 3 weeks, our sources suggest that this is unlikely if you happened to have ordered one with the anti-glare screen, as this seems to push the shipment date out for about four to six additional weeks.

Many customers that have already taken the plunge and ordered one are saying that they are seeing delays that are totaling five to six weeks since they ordered the system.

We have been trying to find out what is causing the shipping delays at the assembly plants in China, but at least for the moment no one is talking about exactly what the problem may be. We continue to dig to try to get to the bottom of this, but for the moment you should be warned that you might experience a longer delay to get one than you first thought.