Customers who pre-ordered the LTE version of Apple's iPad mini on Friday received oddly specific ship dates from Apple, with most falling during the week of Thanksgiving.

No doubt many looked forward to playing Jetpack Joyride on the couch after dinner, using their turkey-stuffed stomachs to prop up the 7.9-inch Apple tablet.

On Wednesday, though, Apple began altering the expected ship dates for LTE iPad minis from specific days in the Nov. 21-23 range to the vague time frame of "mid-November."

Trick or treat? How about a tablet?

Is the iPad mini LTE's new, less specific arrival time a spooky Halloween trick, or is Apple simply experiencing more supply issues?

When the iPad mini became available for pre-order on Friday, the white model reportedly sold out for U.S. customers in around 20 minutes, and expected ship dates for some models promptly jumped up to around Black Friday.

But in Europe, iPad mini stock reportedly was still available long after pre-orders began.

So it's unclear whether the altered iPad mini LTE shipping time frames handed out Wednesday are the result of low stocks or if Apple is simply playing it safe in case the devices don't make it out by the previously promised dates.

That may indeed by the explanation customers are looking for, as Apple's website said all along that the iPad mini LTE would arrive in mid-November.

On the other hand, Slashgear reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook has admitted that the company is "in a significant state of backlog."

Worth the wait

The rumors about the adorable iPad mini were finally confirmed in October, when Apple announced the pint-sized tablet at a press conference last week.

The iPad 4, also known as the new iPad with Retina Display, was revealed at the same event.

The 16GB Wi-Fi-only iPad mini goes for $329 (UK£269, AUD$369), the 32GB version is $429 (UK£349, AUD$479) and 64GB costs $529 (UK£429, AUD$589).

The LTE-compatible iPad mini, meanwhile, comes it at $459 (UK£369), $559 (UK£449) and $659 (UK£529) for 16GB/32GB/64GB, respectively, plus a cellular data plan on Sprint, AT&T or Verizon and EE in the U.K.

Via Slashgear