MacRumors

Apple has just posted a new support document noting that updating to Mac OS X 10.6.8 is "strongly recommended" for users running any of the new Final Cut Pro X applications released earlier today.

Updating to Mac OS X v10.6.8 or later is strongly recommended when using Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, or Compressor 4.

Mac OS X 10.6.8 is of course not yet publicly available, although it has been in developer testing for some time, with Apple appearing to be winding down development as evidenced by a pair of developer seeds released just a few days apart last week.

While Mac OS X 10.6.8 isn't technically a requirement for Final Cut Pro X and users are successfully running it today under Mac OS X 10.6.7, the strength of Apple's wording in the support document suggests that the software update should be making an appearance very soon to get users of the company's professional-level video production software on firm footing.

In order to perform a "clean install" of Lion -- on a new hard drive or when restoring a machine to sell it, for example -- users will need to install Snow Leopard first, according to an email forwarded to MacRumors, purportedly from Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

We have inspected the raw header information included in the email and believe it to be genuine, but these emails must always be taken with a grain of salt.

On Jun 20, 2011, at 9:57 PM, xxxx wrote:

Steve,

I'm really exited about Lion, but I'm a bit anxious about the absence of any physical media in the event of a crash where I need to do a clean install. Will Lion still provide a way to make a bootable image in the event that I need to start from scratch?

And Steve's typically short response:

From: Steve Jobs
Subject: Re: Lion clean install
Date: June 21, 2011 7:55:05 AM PDT
To: xxxx

You can clean install Snow Leopaard [sic] first.

Sent from my iPhone

If this is true, it seems likely Apple will continue to sell Snow Leopard for the foreseeable future for users upgrading from Leopard and to perform clean installs.

Apple still sells Leopard for users who wish to upgrade their pre-Intel PowerPC Macs. Leopard is $129 and only available through 800-MY-APPLE, not the Apple Online Store or the retail stores. The company could offer Snow Leopard in the same surreptitious manner.

Update: To clarify, the original question and Jobs' answer seem to be focused on a situation in which a user is presented with a bare hard drive such as after an upgrade or a replacement after drive failure. OS X Lion does create a separate recovery partition to enable clean installs from a working system, but in the event of a full drive failure and no available backup, Apple's officially-sanctioned reinstallation policy appears to involve first installing Mac OS X Snow Leopard. For machines that ship with Lion installed and thus do not have Snow Leopard to fall back on, Apple will presumably provide some other recovery solution, perhaps in the form of a USB key as is included with the MacBook Air.

Update 2: The website Emails from Steve Jobs yesterday posted a similar email from Steve addressing the same topic:

Dear Mr. Jobs,

I just wanted to know if there will be a way to install Lion on a new HDD/SSD without previously installing 10.6?

Regards,

Andreas Dantz

Steve's straightforward reply:

Sorry, no.

Sent from my iPhone

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky today published a report sharing the results of a new survey of iPhone users, unsurprisingly revealing that 76% of surveyed users are planning to take advantage of Apple's free iCloud services. More significantly, the survey offers the first look at the popularity of iTunes Match, with 30% of respondents indicating that they are somewhat likely or very likely to utilize the $24.99/year service.

Extrapolating the survey results across Apple's iOS ecosystem, RBC notes that Apple could see 150 million users on its free iCloud services with 60 million of those also participating in iTunes Match, a figure that would see Apple pulling in an extra $1.5 billion per year in gross revenues. With Apple reportedly keeping 30% of iTunes Match revenue with the rest being passed on to music labels and publishers, Apple would see about $450 million in revenues from the program.

Those figures are likely on the optimistic side, however, as only 10% of surveyed iPhone users registered as "very likely" to sign up for iTunes Match, with the other 20% pegging their interest at a lower "somewhat likely" level. Approximately 15% offered no opinion on whether or not they would use the service.

The survey also finds that 73% of surveyed users are somewhat likely or very likely to use Apple's new iMessage service in iOS 5. Together, iCloud and iMessage are seen to "enhance loyalty and stickiness" for Apple's customers, potentially encouraging iPod touch users to stick with the iOS platform rather than defecting to Android or another platform when it comes time to purchase a smartphone.

RBC's data appears to come from a subset of approximately 450 iPhone users within a larger survey containing nearly 1,500 respondents.

With Apple having released Final Cut Pro X and associated Motion and Compressor versions today, more details are starting to come out.

We previously pointed to Macworld's "First Look" feature that outlines many of the new functionalities in Final Cut Pro X, and a full review from Macworld is set to be posted soon. Other users who were given early access to Final Cut Pro X have also been speaking out to fill in some of the blanks now that they can speak publicly about the release.

While Apple is offering Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, and Compressor 4 through the Mac App Store, where they have quickly become the top grossing applications, the company has also pushed out some ancillary updates via Software Update for users who have already installed the core applications. Among the add-ons:

- Final Cut Pro X Content (637.5 MB):

- Sound Effects: Over 1300 rights-free sound effects installed into the Audio Browser of Final Cut Pro X.
- Audio Effect Presets: Additional preset effects for the Space Designer plug-in.

- Motion 5 Content (1.15 GB)

- Motion Templates: A variety of professionally-designed, customizable templates.
- Motion Library Content: Animated vector graphics, backgrounds, template media, sample Motion projects, and royalty-free still images.
- Motion Sample Media: Clips and images for use with Motion Help examples and tutorials.

- ProApps QuickTime Codecs (1.2 MB):

This update adds the following video codecs for use by QuickTime-based applications:

- Apple Intermediate Codec
- Apple ProRes
- AVC-Intra
- DVCPRO HD
- HDV
- XDCAM HD / EX / HD422
- MPEG IMX
- Uncompressed 4:2:2

Apple has also released details on graphics card requirements for Final Cut Pro X, noting that at least 256 MB of VRAM on an OpenCL-capable graphics card or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or later integrated graphics package are required. The support document also lists a number of graphics cards and their corresponding machines that are not compatible with the release.

Finally, Apple has also published a database of cameras that are supported on Final Cut Pro X. In addition to a wide variety of still cameras and camcorders, the iPhone 3GS/4, iPad 2, and fourth-generation iPod touch are also supported.

Update: Apple has also posted online user manuals for Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, and Compressor 4.

BGR reports that it has received word from a reliable source indicating that the next-generation iPhone will indeed be a significant departure from the existing iPhone 4 form factor, bringing a "radical new case design" for the handset. According to the source, Apple may be preparing for an event in early or mid August to introduce the next iPhone, which would become available in the last week of August.

While Apple has indeed been giving some developers access to a device known as the iPhone 4S -- an iPhone 4 with upgraded internals -- BGR has independently confirmed that the next-generation iPhone will not merely be an upgraded iPhone 4 as had been previously rumored. We have been told by a reliable source to expect a radical new case design for the upcoming iPhone. We have not been given any additional details surrounding the design of the new iPhone case, though.

BGR's claims contradict a number of other reports that have claimed that Apple's next iPhone will appear nearly identical to the iPhone 4, with most improvements confined to the internals of the device. Several reports have also suggested that the new iPhone won't appear until the September-October timeframe, in line with the company's iPod-focused media event traditionally held around that time.

While BGR has demonstrated solid sourcing for Apple's iOS updates and offered some accurate information from Apple's retail store operations, the site has been less accurate with other recent claims. Recent misses include Back to School promo details and claimed MacBook Pro details.

Apple has officially announced announced that Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5 and Compressor 4 are available today on the Mac App Store.

"Final Cut Pro X is the biggest advance in Pro video editing since the original Final Cut Pro," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "We have shown it to many of the world's best Pro editors, and their jaws have dropped."

The newest version of Final Cut Pro offers features such as Magnetic Timeline that lets you edit on a flexible, trackless canvas; Content Auto-Analysis that categorizes your content upon import by shot type, media and people; and background rendering that allows you to work without interruption.

According to Apple's press release, Final Cut Pro X is available today for $299.99 from the Mac App Store. Motion 5 and Compressor 4 are also available today for $49.99 each from the Mac App Store.

Macworld posts a "First Look" at the software.

Apple's new Final Cut Pro X has been re-designed from the ground up with a radically different approach -- one that acknowledges and uses device and camera data in a manner that has never before been attempted in the video editing environment.

Update: Final Cut Pro [App Store], Motion [App Store] and Compressor [App Store] are live in the App Store.

Apple has quietly updated their Time Capsule with 2TB and 3TB models, as expected. Pricing of the new units isn't clear as Apple hasn't updated the retail site, though the splash page still indicates "Starting at $299". There seems to be no mention of any new features aside from the hard drive capacities

Apple has also slightly tweaked the promotional pages for the AirPort Extreme, suggesting that that device has also received a quiet update. But again, no details on spec changes have been revealed.

Update: Apple has now posted store pages for the updated 2 TB ($299) and 3 TB ($499) Time Capsules. The new models offer the same price points as before, but with the upgraded capacities.

Apple has also posted a new store page for the AirPort Extreme, although it is still unclear what improvements are included over the previous generation. Pricing remains at $179.

The Taiwan-based PCB companies, which are shipping products for iPads and iPhones, have seen disappointing orders for these devices in the second quarter, the sources said. Orders thus far for June show no signs of a rebound, the sources indicated.

These companies reportedly supply parts for iPads and iPhones and expect orders to pick up significantly due to the expected launch of the next generation iPhone ("iPhone 4S") in the 3rd calendar quarter.

The lower demand is presumably related to the iPhone 4 which was released last year. By all accounts, demand for the iPad 2 remains high with another report indicating that Apple is expecting continue sales growth in the 3rd quarter for the iPad.

Engadget points to a newly published FCC filing that confirms that Apple is about to launch a new AirPort Extreme imminently.

The FCC just trumped Cupertino's plan to sneak out an updated AirPort Extreme wireless base station with the outing of an Apple 3x3 802.11n access point, model A1408.

Apple typically times release of FCC documentation with the release date, so we expect new AirPort Extremes (and Time Capsules) today (Tuesday).

There are reported to be 3 new devices: 1 AirPort Extreme and 2 Time Capsules (2TB and 3TB).

• MD031LL/A – AIRPORT EXTREME 802.11N (5TH GEN)- USA
• MD032LL/A – TIME CAPSULE 2TB (4TH GENERATION) – USA
• MD033LL/A – TIME CAPSULE 3TB (4TH GENERATION) – USA

The prices of all parts are said to drop in price, though the exact price hasn't been specified. Given the last minute part numbers, we expect the new devices could launch as early as Tuesday morning.

What's particularly interesting is that the 3TB part was predicted by MICGadget in their report late yesterday.

What’s more, the 1TB model may go extinct, and the new Time Capsule will be available in 2TB plus storage, and according to our trusted source, 3TB is tested, but not sure if Apple got it to work.

They also predicted a new design with better heat dissipation, better signal strength and software update caching.

The processors, which appeared Sunday on Intel's updated processor price list, are faster than current power-efficient Sandy Bridge chips used in skinny laptops such as the Samsung Series 9.

Apple is expected to use this type of Intel chip in its upcoming MacBook Air refresh. The Air, to date, has used older-generation Intel Core 2 Duo chips.

We previously covered the rumors about these new processors which could be used in Apple's upcoming MacBook Air. The specs for the new chips are listed here:

• Core i7-2677M: 2 cores, 1.8GHz (turbos to 2.9GHz), 4MB cache, 17 watts, $317
• Core i7-2637M: 2 cores, 1.7GHz (turbos to 2.8GHz), 4MB cache, 17 watts, $289
• Core i5-2557M: 2 cores, 1.7GHz (turbos to 2.7GHz), 3MB cache, 17 watts, $250

The new MacBook Air is rumored to launch in June or July, but Apple may be holding its release for OS X Lion to ship.

Over the weekend, we heard rumors that Apple will be delivering new Mac minis and Mac Pros in the late July/early August timeframe. Now, MICGadget claims to have new information about these upcoming desktop refreshes and Time Capsule/Airport devices. Much of the information we've seen before, but they do offer some interesting additional notes of interest.

As expected, the new Mac mini will be receiving Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge processors. As a side effect of this upgrade, the new Mac minis will end up using Intel's HD integrated graphics rather than an NVIDIA solution. This should be no surprise as Apple has made this same compromise in their low-end MacBook Pros using the recent Sandy Bridge processors.

Current Mac Pro design

Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt are coming to the new Mac Pro, and at the same time, an unique CPU will be developed for Mac. This unique CPU is not seen in PC.

Early MacRumors commenters in the Mac Pro/Mac mini rumor discussion pointed out that Mac Pro-suitable Sandy Bridge processors aren't known to be available in time for the late July/early August timeframe. The use of a custom CPU would explain away this discrepancy. Apple and Intel have a close relationship and are Intel has been known to supply Apple with custom CPU parts in the past. The original MacBook Air also used a custom part that was available only to Apple for a period of time.

As for the Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme, MICGadget claims that the devices are newly designed with better heat dissipation than previous models. They claim that the new TimeCapsule has a lower TDP and low power consumption hard drive using Apple firmware, while the AirPort Extreme has improved signal strength with six antennas built in. Finally, they echo previous claims that the Time Capsule will serve as a caching system for software updates in Lion and iOS 5.

MICGadget has not previously published many original rumors, so their reliability is unknown. The custom Mac Pro CPU, however, rumor fits in nicely with the previous Mac Pro and Mac Mini release timeframe.

The main downward force on Apple's stock price is a lack of clarity around Steve Jobs' successor and questions about how long he will remain at his current post, according to a pair of articles today examining the performance of Apple's stock over the past few months. AAPL is down more than 2% year-to-date, and is down more than 8% since WWDC began.

Henry Blodget at Business Insider:

In a way, the situation Apple finds itself in is akin to an impending CEO retirement--without a successor having been named. In such "lame duck" periods, companies can become paralyzed, as managers focus more on their own future and political stature and uncertainty and less on the business.

And, in Apple's case, unfortunately, the situation is even worse: No one knows whether Steve will return, or when, or even when the question of his return will finally be put to rest. So the company is in a sort of perpetual purgatory.

Rougemont, a contributor at investor haven Seeking Alpha, agrees, noting "this concern is already discounted in the stock."

There may be another, less Steve-related explanation. Last week, there was some extraordinary downward movement on Thursday, on a day without significant bad news. Philip Elmer-Dewitt at Apple 2.0 took a look at weekly options set to expire on Friday as a possible explanation for the sudden plunge.

Among the dwindling numbers of retail Apple investors, there were the usual cries of market manipulation and calls for reform of the weekly options markets, which some believe have become the tail that wags the underlying stock.

Regardless of the reason behind the drop, some view the price dip as a buying opportunity.

Both Horace Dediu at Asymco and Andy Zaky at Bullish Cross believe this drop is a buying opportunity, with Zaky assigning a "buy" recommendation for any price between $300 and $320, with a $500 price target:

Because of the market's short-term blindness to this obvious reality, we find it prudent to put a strong-buy rating on the stock if it so happens to trade under $300 during a potential brutal summer correction.

Apple just closed at $315, down a point percent and a half on the day.