Commodore Amiga-emulating TheA1200 retro computer delayed nearly half a year by ‘global chip shortages’ — Retro Games Ltd says it will use the extra time to finesse the software

Retro Games Limited (RGL) has announced that the release of TheA1200 computer has been delayed by almost six months. The Commodore Amiga-emulating full-size A1200-like design has been up for pre-order since Nov 2025, and retro-hungry fans were anticipating deliveries of the first units on June 16, 2026. In a social media post on Wednesday, RGL announced that the machine won’t be available until December 4, 2026. It blamed a combination of “global chip shortages and rising plastic production costs” for the setback. However, the firm insists that TheA1200 specs and pricing will not be adjusted.

In some ways, we are surprised that the release plans for TheA1200 have been impacted by the global chip crunch. An original Amiga 1200 had such puny specs compared to systems nowadays – it used a 14 MHz processor, 2MB (not GB) of RAM, and zero fixed storage, just a floppy disk drive. We would assume RGL is going to create TheA1200 using the magic of emulation and a cheap Allwinner/Rockchip Arm SoC backed by 512MB to 1MB of RAM. However, the tendrils of the AI boom are now beginning to spread and strangle tech production beyond the high-end RAM, NAND, and processor niches.

RGL also notes that TheA1200 OS “isn’t yet where it needs to be.” This aspect of the product is currently functional, it is explained, but for the best possible Amiga experience, the dev team needs more time “to get it right.”

Obviously, delays like this are frustrating to folks who have already endured a protracted pre-order period. An extra (almost) six months of patience is quite a lot to ask. With this in mind, RGL has prepared an FAQ regarding the delays. We’ve embedded the full blurb above, but key takeaways are that pre-orders will stand unless you are fed up enough to cancel, the price isn’t going to change, and the machine specs will not be adjusted. Furthermore, TheA1200 is “fully on track for release on 4^th December 2026,” insists RGL.

We visited the U.S. distributor’s TheA1200 product page on Amazon.com and saw that the machine is still up for pre-order at $189.99 at the time of writing. However, the release date hasn’t yet been updated; it still says “June 16, 2026” is when TheA1200 will become available.

TheA1200’s price looks quite competitive for a bit of retro fun in 2026, with the entry price of even basic computers and SBCs ratcheting up lately. The pre-order value looks even better compared to RGL’s TheA500 Mini, which is listed at $218.95. This well-reviewed Mini Amiga can also play A1200 games, but it doesn’t have a functional keyboard, and thus lacks the real Amiga feel and presence.

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