WAS IT DELIVERED? Sent on iChat & doesn't say Delivered, but appears on iPhone & says Delivered.

Question

I sent a message from Messages on my MacBook Pro last night and it still does not appear as Delivered. The blue box is there and it never alerted as unable to deliver/not sent. However, when I open Messages on my iPhone5, that same message DOES say Delivered. Was it delivered or not?
Other iMessages sent from both devices indicated Delivered on both devices before and after this particular text.
The recipient in question is an iMessage user. Messages have always been fine with this recipient in the past.
Preferences on my Macbook Pro Messages app are set so that I can be reached on my phone number and apple registered email address.
My computer and iPhone accounts have always been synced and have never been a problem.
RECAP:
Message sent on MacBook Pro Message DOES NOT say Delivered. Appears as normal blue box. No alert that the message failed to send.
This message appears on iPhone5 Message application and DOES say Delivered and time stamp indicates delivery at the time it was sent.
This is the ONLY message with a problem. Other messages are, and have been, functioning as usual.
QUESTION: WAS THE iMessage DELIVERED OR NOT?????

Answer 1

Hi,
At one level it is debatable and another the answer is yes.
I will explain further.
You have two different apps on an iOS device and the Mac that act a little differently despite using the same service.
You also have Apple IDs and linked iPhone numbers in some cases and a form of syncing between the two.
Lets start with a basic set up and expand from there.
Lets say you and a contact are both on Mac sending iMessages using your Apple ID with no linked iPhone Number (i.e no second "listening" device)
You send an iMessages and you get the Delivered  and possibly Read depending on their settings when they Receive it.
Basically an Original Message to the intended person on the intended device.
Now th next step.
The contact Adds an iPhone to the set up, linking the Apple ID to the iPhone Number
This means his (or her's) end has two devices, one with the intended ID and the other capable of "listening" as it were.
You send an iMessages again to their Apple ID (potentially the Mac).
This is the device that can respond with "received " and therefore the Delivered response you see.
The iMessages server is pushing the iMessages to all devices. they all respond they "received" it.
The iOS side seems to be slightly faster.
This can mean "Delivered" gets posted on your Mac briefly before the iMessages servers sort it out.
Now lets presume their Mac is Off line.
You might see the "Delivered" reported briefly from  his/her iOS device before the iMessages server realizes the Apple ID device has not responded.
However the iMessages, due to the sync process is on their iPhone.
Add in to this the fact that the Mac can send as If it is the iPhone.
If you then Send to the Mac/Apple ID  the iMessages server treats your iPhone as the Sender and posts Response back to  the iPhone (number) and not the Apple ID.
Depending on what device is off line at the other end you can find the responses are not synced the same way the actual iMessages are.
However the Sync process tends to mean that at least one device has seen the iMessage.
8:38 pm      Thursday; November 6, 2014
​  iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad