MacRumors

Apple also released a number of Pro Application updates today:

Final Cut Pro 6.0.1
Final Cut Pro 6.0.1 contains several updates and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Pro 6.0.

Motion 3.0.1
Motion 3.0.1 improves stability and resolves performance issues and is recommended for all users of Motion 3.0.

Color 1.0.1
Color 1.0.1 contains several updates and is recommended for all users of Color 1.0.

Compressor 3.0.1
Compressor 3.0.1 contains several updates and is recommended for all Compressor 3.0 users.

Soundtrack Pro 2.0.1
Soundtrack Pro 2.0.1 contains several updates and is recommended for all users of Soundtrack Pro 2.0.

Pro Applications Update 2007-01
Pro Application Update 2007-01 includes fixes to underlying frameworks and shared components for the updated Final Cut Studio 2 applications

Amidst the iPhone lead up, Apple has released SuperDrive Firmware Update 2.1:

About SuperDrive Firmware Update 2.1
The SuperDrive Update improves readability of certain CD media. The updater application will be installed in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Please follow the instructions in the updater application to complete the update process.

The 12MB updates is intended for Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later and any of these models

- MacBook Pro Core Duo (15 -inch 1.83GHz, 2.0GHz, or 2.16GHz)
- MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (15 -inch 2.16GHz or 2.33GHz)
- MacBook Core Duo (13 -inch 1.83GHz or 2.0GHz)
- MacBook Core 2 Duo (13 -inch 1.83GHz or 2.0GHz)

AT&T sent out emails to customers today which reveals that they are limiting iPhone sales to "one per person":

With iPhone arriving June 29th at 6 p.m. in AT&T retail stores, the wait is almost over. Use our online store locator to find the closest AT&T store that sells Apple iPhone (limit one per person). We'll show you maps, directions, and everything you need to get your hands on an iPhone as quickly as possible.

There's been no official word if Apple will be similarly limiting their sales, but it may be a safe bet. Appleinsider reports that Apple Stores are preparing by requiring some employees to stay overnight on Thursday night to prepare for Friday's launch.

Finally, we've heard that some above-average size Apple Stores may be getting on the order of 1000 iPhones for Friday's launch, with a ratio of inventory being heavily skewed towards 8GB iPhones over 4GB iPhones at approximately a 4:1 ratio.

MacRumors forum members are meeting up at their respective locations to stand in line.

USA Today's Ed Baig provides a video report (YouTube) to complement his print iPhone review that was first published yesterday. The review demos various functions of the iPhone and also gives us a view of the iPhone Box:

While not mentioned in any of the reviews, we've received word that custom Ringtone support is in fact a feature of iTunes 7.3.

A "Ringtone" tab was shown during the original iPhone announcement at Macworld San Francisco, as shown in this photo from Engadget:

Click to Enlarge

iTunes 7.3 is listed as a requirement for the iPhone but has not yet been released by Apple. Reportedly, the new version of iTunes will allow you to convert any song that is available on iTunes into a ringtone with the "Make into Ringtone" feature. The cost for this service is $.99. It's not clear, based on information available, whether or not CD-ripped songs can also be easily converted or this is specifically an iTunes Store feature.

When a song is selected for conversion, a "garageband like" interface comes up to allow you to pic the 30 second clip you want.

Forum member FreeState noticed that Apple's Question/Answer list now shows an image of iTunes with 8 tabs (vs 6 in the video)

One of these tabs could represent Ringtones.

Update: kingjimmy9 let us know that Apple has "corrected" the image and put up one with only 6 tabs:

With some readers beginning to grow premature gray hair over the plethora of news regarding Apple's soon to be released iPhone, let's recap some of the recent non-iPhone related stories that we've covered, or that we've let slip through:

Leopard
Leopard leaks continue to trickle in. Recently disclosed features include enhancements to QuickTime, DVD Player, iChat, and system configurability. Apple has also seeded developers a read/write beta of ZFS for Leopard.

TUAW reports that developers who missed out on WWDC will be able to get their hands on the WWDC build of Leopard "soon." Meanwhile, Apple's major build milestone calendar was outlined by MacScoop, with an expectation of release in late October.

3rd Party Applications
Parallels has gained a lot of attention with their release of Parallels Desktop 3.0, which includes 3D graphics support. Macworld's Peter Cohen took a look at the release from a gamer's perspective. In addition, we recently announced a special through Digital River for a 10% discount on Parallels Desktop 3.0 upgrades.

Perhaps also notable is Adobe's Lightroom 1.1 update. Details and an in-depth overview are provided by James Duncan Davidson over in O'Reilly's Inside Lightroom blog.

An Apple iPhone FAQ confirms an earlier rumor that VPN will be supported on the iPhone:

For secure Internet access, iPhone supports industry-standard Wi-Fi security and virtual private networking (VPN).

The FAQ also reveals some other answers, such as:

- 4 Digit Password can be used to protect iPhone
- Windows 2000 (SP4), Windows XP Home or Professional (SP2), and Windows Vista.
- Photo of the iPhone Dock with bluetooth headset charger pictured

Finally the iPhone's specs page is updated with more detailed capabilities:

Audio formats supported: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 768 Kbps, 320 by 240 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

What comes in the box:

- iPhone
- Stereo Headset
- Dock
- Dock Connector to USB Cable
- USB Power Adapter
- Documentation
- Cleaning/polishing cloth

iTunes 7.3 (not yet released) is required for the iPhone.

Competing carriers' talking points to hold their own against the iPhone threat are beginning to leak.

Verizon Wireless's talking points, published by AppleInsider. Highlights include:
- No "Song ID" feature on iPhone
- No IM on the iPhone
- Unprotected music can be transfered to their Verizon phone using Music Manager software.
- 4 GB expansion cards are available
- Notable quotes: "stay near a plug", "watch your wallet"

A few days ago, Sprint's talking points made it to Mac Daily News. The pdf can be found here, and highlights include:
- Sprint 3G deployment is strong, "leading the way" in 4G/Wi-Max deployment
- The iPhone allows desktop-like surfing, but is on a slow network
- Notable quote: "using the iPhone on the GSM/EDGE network may be like having a really powerful computer on dial up"

Common talking points between the competing carriers appear to be criticism of AT&T's network, Apple's built-in battery approach, non-expandable memory, no over-the-air downloads, no multimedia messaging, and price.

Potential buyers should note that while each do bring up some valid points that they may want to consider, the documents also contain false statements about the iPhone:
- Sprint claims iPhone camera is 1.3 MP. Actual: 2.0 MP.
- Sprint claims iPhone only operates on GSM/EDGE. Actual: GSM/EDGE/WiFi Hotspots (for data).
- Verizon claims iPhone can only watch media that was loaded on the phone from your PC. Actual: YouTube integration.
- Both claim iPhone does not support Exchange. Actual: Exchange support may have been revealed yesterday. To be fair, this may simply represent information that was not available to the networks at time of printing.

Apple has posted another tour video for the Apple iPhone. This time their tour covers their virtual keyboard and predictive input.

The accuracy and ease of use of the virtual keyboard has been a point of concern in the months leading to its launch. Walt Mossberg felt that the on-screen keyboard was a "non-issue" after a week or two of use.

AT&T has posted a FAQ for the iPhone and service activation. Much of the information was known, but clarifies activation policies:

- $499 for 4GB, $599 for 8GB iPhone
- 2-year service agreement required
- iPhone is not eligible for Wireless Phone Insurance; iPhone is covered by Apple Warranty
- No business discounts
- iPhone must be activated before it can be used. Pre-installed SIM card.
- Activates "within a few minutes"
- 14 day return policy. If opened, there is a 10% restocking fee.
- Existing AT&T wireless customers will need to add an iPhone Data Plan.

Following WSJ: Walt Mossberg's initial review, more reviews are beginning to appear across the web. We will highlight reviews of interest here.

NY Times: David Pogue
- "so sleek and thin, it makes Treos and BlackBerrys look obese."
- After walking around with the iPhone unprotected for 2 weeks, no marks on it. Glass smudges are easily wiped off.
- 700 megabytes is occupied by the phones software
- Making calls can be a 6 step process if phone is off.
- Web, Email is superior
- Battery Life Test: 5 hours video, 23 hours audio. Note: did not turn off Wi-Fi and other features as Apple suggests.
- Typing was OK. Difficult at first, but learned to "trust" the keyboard. "The BlackBerry wont be going away anytime soon."
- Cites AT&T network as iPhone's biggest downfall. Cites Consumer Reports survey which ranks AT&T network as last or second to last in 19 out of 20 major US cities.
- AT&Ts EDGE cellular network: "excruciatingly slow"
- Slideshow of photos taken with iPhone
- Video Review

Newsweek: Steven Levy
- bottom line is that the iPhone is a significant leap
- The iPhone is the rare convergence device where things actually converge.
- e-mail looks more like youre working on a computer than a clunky phone
- YouTube videos work great on Wi-Fi, but can display in a lower quality when youre not at a hotspot and are using AT&Ts EDGE network
- unless I did a lot of video watching or Web browsing, [the battery] could generally last the day
- Ive been jamming it in my pocket with keyrings, coins and pens, and so far its nearly as good as new.

USA Today: Edward Baig
- Apple's iPhone isn't perfect, but it's worthy of the hype
- The revelation is that it's also comfortable to hold and touch.
- I expected to miss the tactile feel that a physical keyboard provides. I didn't.
- You can hold a conference call with up to five people.
- No voice recognition or voice dialing
- halfway decent internal speakers for listening if you set the thing down
- iPod games are not compatible with iPhone
- our company tech department raised questions about the security settings Apple required with our Microsoft Exchange servers.
- Battery life didn't prove to be a big problem in my unscientific tests
- Edward Baig brought his iPhone to CNBC and demoed it live tonight: Video

The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg and Katherine Boehret have posted their review of the Apple iPhone.

Mossberg and Bohret tested the iPhone for two weeks in multiple usage scenarios and in various cities:

Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer. Its software, especially, sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry, and its clever finger-touch interface, which dispenses with a stylus and most buttons, works well, though it sometimes adds steps to common functions.

Some highlights:

- largest, highest resolution screen of any smart phone they've seen, most internal memory
- Impressive battery life and thin
- Feels solid
- Regarding the touch keyboard: "After five days of use, Walt -- who did most of the testing for this review -- was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years."
- Can't use T-Mobile SIM cards
- Wi-Fi capability doesn't fully make up for the lack of a fast cellular data capability
- Multitouch: "effective, practical and fun"
- No way to copy/paste text
- Microsoft's Exchange system support
- Voice call quality was good, but not great
- Can't record video
- No Adobe Flash support
- Songs can't be set as ringtones

Apple says it plans to add features to the phone over time, via free downloads, and hints that some of these holes may be filled.

He also provides a video review.

From Engadget, AT&T website's Find a Store service has now been updated with additional criteria.

You can now search for stores that will sell the iPhone. You can type in your city, state, or zip code and find which AT&T stores will definitely have iPhones.

For those standing in line on Friday, you can visit our Meetup Forum to meet with other MacRumors members local to your region.

ZDNet's All About Microsoft blog claims that Apple's iPhone will be compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server.

Heres what Im hearing: Apple will announce this week possibly as soon as June 27 that it has licensed the Exchange ActiveSync licensing protocol. Via the licensing arrangement, Apple iPhone users will be able to connect to Exchange Server and make use of its wireless messaging and synchronization capabilities.

The presumed lack of Microsoft Exchange support was a criticism amongst analysts regarding iPhone's fit in the business world.

Some fine print regarding the iPhone is being brought to light today regarding the iPhone's storage capacity and features.

Many users continue to extol Apple's apparent editing mistake in its activation video where the iPhone is shown to have an 74.40 GB capacity. While we firmly believe this was simply an editing mistake on Apple's part, Apple shows during other parts of the video the capacity of an apparently empty 8 GB iPhone as 7.24 GB. It is standard industry practice to advertise a device's physical capacity rather than usable, formatted capacity, and it seems the iPhone is no exception. Potential purchasers should keep this in mind when deciding on which model to choose.

In addition, TUAW has noted that Apple and AT&T are serious when they indicate that a 2-year service plan is required when purchasing an iPhone. According to fine-print on Apple's rate-plan webpage, even iPod features of the iPhone will be locked until the phone is activated after purchase of a service plan through iTunes.

Our Digital River affiliate program is offering a 10% off discount for Parallels Desktop 3.0 upgrades. The upgrade typically runs $49.99 and allows existing Parallels customers to upgrade to the latest 3.0 version of Parallels which offers 3d support, tighter Mac OS X and Windows integration and more.

Parallels is virtualization software for Intel Macs that allows them to run Windows (or Linux) alongside Mac OS X.

Full retail (non-upgrade) pricing is $79.99, and upgrade discount only available through this link.

As affiliate links, sales made through these links financially benefit MacRumors

In addition to the recently leaked ZFS Read/Write beta, AppleInsider has found hidden Leopard features.

Quicktime player has reportedly been updated to include support for full-screen movie playback without the need for a QuickTime Pro key.

DVD Player is also reported to be set for Blu-Ray and HD DVD disk support as well as the opportunity to add DVD cover art and change movie region support on the fly. The site had previously reported that DVD Player would receive a fair amount of attention in Leopard. The site does not make it clear, however, whether this support is in the current build, or is rumored for future builds.

Leopard's version of iChat now supports Google's GTalk (a report confirmed by MacRumors sources as well). If more protocol support is desired, Apple has built in the ability to set the default IM client so users can use a 3rd party program (such as Adium). AppleInsider reports that this configurability extends even into Dictionary.app, which can now use either the built-in Oxford dictionary or Wikipedia.

The Apple 2.0 Blog claims that the first official iPhone reviews should start trickling out tonight at 6 p.m. PT (9 p.m. ET).

From what we've heard the reviewers are going to be generally positive but will not shy away from pointing out the parts of the iPhone experience that were disappointing -- mostly revolving around typing difficulties and sluggish downloads over AT&T's current cellular network.

Apple has provided review iPhones to select journalists ahead of time to allow them time to use and review the units for the iPhone launch. Walt Mossberg received his iPhone on June 11th.