Crazy Apple Rumors Site

Apple’s new iPod shuffle – perhaps the sexiest of the iPods announced at the Showtime event – has been delayed past its promised October release.

While some sources have reported the shuffle will be available this weekend, Crazy Apple Rumors Site has learned that its ultimate release date is still uncertain.

The trouble began when Apple’s supplier for the shuffle revealed that it could not actually make them as small as it had promised.

Despite their repeated claims to have a shrink ray, the Hongfujin Precision Industry Co. facility charged with making the iPod shuffle was ultimately unable to deliver.

“Normally we really check into a supplier’s operational capabilities,” said Apple Senior Vice President of Operations Tim Cook. “But I figured… shrink ray… how hard is that?”

Now, Apple is left with several million shuffles that are five times the size they were promised to be.

Fortunately, the company is not without recourse. Thanks to a new engineering process, the Showtime shuffles are made of 100% cotton and have not been pre-shrunk.

Sources indicate that Apple employees worked overtime and spent the entire weekend laundering iPod shuffles in hot water and then running them repeatedly through the dryer.

“If that wool-based technology had worked out, they’d be even smaller,” Cook noted.

The shuffle’s delivery date is still uncertain as no one yet knows how many cycles it will take to get the devices down to size.

Other than Tim Cook and several sources who preferred not being identified, Apple declined to comment for this story.