MacRumors

Apple's share price touched the $600 mark as trading opened this morning, just a month after reaching $500/share for the first time. The stock has, however, pulled back slightly since the open and now sits at $594.

The stock price has been on a tear ever since Apple reported blowout earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2012, rising nearly $180/share, or close to 40%, in under two months.

At the end of February, Apple broke through the important psychological barrier of $500 billion in market capitalization. Apple is the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, worth nearly $560 billion, more than $150 billion higher than second-place ExxonMobil.

Apple is now within $50 billion of claiming the "most valuable publicly traded company ever" title. According to the S&P, Microsoft had a peak market cap of $604 billion during the dot-com boom in December 1999. Adjusted for inflation, Microsoft was worth $813.42 billion in January 2012 dollars at its peak, and Apple would have to reach $873/share to surpass that total.

With Apple's official launch of the iPad in Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong just hours away, it seems that some of the company's retail stores are beginning their preparations. At Apple's Fukuoka Tenjin store in Japan, which closed for the night a little over an hour ago, employees are currently hard at work removing iPad 2 units from display in order to replace them with demo models of the new iPad.

Apple's retail stores will be opening at 8:00 AM local time to begin selling the new iPad, but some third-party retail partners will be opening even earlier. In fact, our friends at iFixit have traveled to Australia in order to be among the first to obtain an iPad for teardown purposes and were first in line at a Telstra retail store in Melbourne that opened just a few minutes ago at midnight. The carrier is even celebrating the event with a meter square iPad cake.

Update: iFixit now has its iPad in hand and will begin tearing it down shortly.

While shipping notices for pre-orders of the iPad began going out over the weekend, those notices have been accompanied by "future delivery requested" notes indicating that Apple is working with delivery companies to coordinate the launch for this Friday, March 16. But the new 1080p-capable Apple TV set-top box is also set to debut at that same time, and at least some U.S. pre-order customers are receiving notifications that their packages are already out for delivery today.

The first hint of potential early delivery for Apple TV pre-orders surfaced yesterday when they began appearing in FedEx shipping notices with overnight shipping and estimated deliveries of today. But the initial shipping estimates appeared to be based only on the fact that shipping information had been received by FedEx, with the actual packages not yet showing up in the system.

But the packages themselves did start registering in FedEx's tracking system during the overnight hours and have moved quickly to their final distribution points, and a number of MacRumors readers have reported that the packages are out for delivery.

Early delivery of the Apple TV would be a welcome surprise for a number of customers waiting to stream the higher-resolution content to their televisions, and would not be unheard for Apple. While the focus is on coordinating an iPad launch for Friday with in-store launches occurring on the same day, the Apple TV is much less of a priority and thus Apple is likely unconcerned about the shipments of the new device coming in a day early. On the contrary, getting some of the Apple TV orders delivered today could be part of the plan to help ease the load on delivery companies for tomorrow's busy iPad launch.

Update: Deliveries of the new Apple TV are indeed being made today:

(Thanks, Nan Zi!)

The embargo has lifted on the reviews for the 3rd Generation iPad, and they are starting to trickle out. Here are links and summaries of some of the more prominent reviews:

Macworld Review and Video

- Text in most apps will automatically take advantage of Retina display, though with some exceptions (Kindle App)
- "The third-generation iPad had a frame rate 1.6 times that of the iPad 2"
- 3rd Gen iPad almost identical physically to iPad 2
- Video quality of 1080p video recorded was "very good" even in low light
- "AT&T’s LTE network in San Francisco was impressive." with 14.5Mbps/20.6Mbps download and upload rates.

LoopInsight Review

- "Remember how startling it was to go from one of those giant standard definition projector TVs to an HDTV? That’s what this is like."
- Screen is a huge difference from iPad 2.
- Movies and photos are crystal clear

TechCrunch

- "Once you see and use the new iPad, there will be no going back."
- LTE: "Really fast. Faster-than-my-WiFi fast."
- LTE: 40 mbps down and 20mbps up on Verizon
- Bigger battery, and does get noticeably warm in lower left corner after prolonged use.

The Verge Review and Video

- "I'm not being hyperbolic or exaggerative when I say it is easily the most beautiful computer display I have ever looked at."
- Verizon LTE: 22Mbps down, 21Mbps in mid-town Manhattan
- Battery tests almost matched Apple's claims.

AllThingsD

- "If you already own an iPad 2, and like it, you shouldn’t feel like you have to rush out to buy the new one."
- Was able to use smaller font sizes to read books and email on 3rd Gen iPad vs iPad 2

NY Times

- "Really, the new iPad should have been called the iPad 2S."
- "Apple just took its white-hot iPad and added the latest screen, battery and cellular technologies."

Following yesterday's unboxing video of the new iPad in Vietnam, which has also resulted in benchmarks and sample photos and screenshots from the device surfacing, Hong Kong's PCM Online reports (via Engadget) that it too has gained early access to the new iPad.

PCM's device is a white 16 GB 4G model, and the report includes a number of photos and benchmarks of the device comparing it to an iPad 2, as well as a video highlighting a number of features of the device and containing a sample video shot with the new iPad at the end of the clip. The new iPad's video quality from the rear camera is obviously superior to that of the iPad 2, but still suffered from a bit of overexposure in PCM's sample clip.

Benchmarking the graphics performance of the new iPad also showed significant improvement over the iPad 2, with benchmarking tests boosting performance from 90 frames per second (fps) to 140 fps in the GLBenchmark 2.1.1 Egypt offscreen test and from 146 fps to 250 fps in the GLBenchmark 2.1.1 Pro offscreen test. Similar data had previously been uploaded to GLBenchmark's site, although its authenticity has not been confirmed.

With just two days to go until the launch of the new iPad, third-party retailer partners are apparently beginning to receive their stocks of the device. Engadget shares a photo of what is claimed to be several boxes of the new iPad that have arrived at a Best Buy location in the United States.

Meanwhile, another report claims that at least one PC World location in the United Kingdom has received its shipment, with the boxes "stacked up ready to go". For those looking forward to an in-store purchase on launch day in the UK, Pocket-lint claims that PC World may be a solid option with rumors that at least some of the chain's locations will be opening ahead of Apple's official 8:00 AM launch time.

Update: We're also hearing of iPad shipments arriving at John Lewis in the UK and at Target in the United States.

Last week, we took a look at the compression being employed by Apple with its new 1080p content on the iTunes Store, a feature that has allowed Apple to increase file sizes by only 15-25% compared to 720p even as the number of pixels have more than doubled. A number of commenters were interested in seeing how 1080p iTunes content compares to Blu-ray, and Ars Technica has now returned with a new analysis looking at the relative quality of those two sources.

The report offers a number of blown-up comparison shots, finding that the iTunes Store content generally compares fairly well to Blu-ray content, although it does struggle a bit more with bright highlights, scenes with high detail and noise levels, and dark gradients.

I was surprised to see how close the iTunes 1080p download comes to Blu-ray, considering that it's only a fraction of the file size. And let's be honest: there are lots of Blu-ray titles that look much worse than this iTunes download. But despite an impressive effort by Apple, Blu-ray still reigns king when it comes to image quality. And unlike iTunes titles, BRDs can have uncompressed multi-channel audio, multiple audio language options, and special features.

Apple's move to 1080p video content in the iTunes Store is part of a significant shift to higher-resolution offerings, pairing the new new content with movie support for iTunes in the Cloud and new 1080p hardware in the new iPad and Apple TV set to debut on Friday.

Electricpig reports that it has heard from a Mac accessory manufacturer that Apple is planning to launch a 15-inch MacBook Air as soon as April.

And what is coming? If you take our source’s word for it, a 15-inch MacBook Air with ports on both sides, no optical drive and no ethernet cable.

While our source wasn’t certain that this would completely destroy the Pro (he also stated that Apple might hold on to the 17-inch model, which would make sense for the sizeable audience of professional editors out there), he was fairly sure that the shakeup will happen in April. To that end, our source’s company’s got its manufacturers on standby to be able to make and ship a new product lineup inside of 90 days.

The source is reportedly involved in "MacBook docking solutions", and while Apple almost certainly hasn't shared any specific information with the source, he does obviously have a strong interest in acquiring such information and may even have access to sources who could provide estimates of Apple's plans. That said, the source may simply be reiterating a previous rumor that had claimed new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with thinner MacBook Air-like form factors would be launching in April.

One other question still remaining is chip availability from Intel. With delays in the launch of the chip manufacturer's new Ivy Bridge platform and uncertainty about whether these thinner MacBook Pro or larger MacBook Air products would run traditional mobile chips as found in the current MacBook Pro or ultra low voltage chips as found in the MacBook Air, it is not entirely clear when chips for the new machines will become available.

Apple today officially announced that the new iPad will launch at 8:00 AM local time on Friday in the United States and nine other countries. The first hints of an 8:00 AM launch surfaced earlier this week with the grand opening time of Apple's new Highland Village retail store in Houston, and the time was essentially confirmed yesterday with a leaked photo of Apple retail store signage announcing the launch time.

Apple today announced the new iPad, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, will arrive at Apple’s retail stores and the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) on Friday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m. local time in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK; along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Apple also notes that customers purchasing the new iPad will receive free Personal Setup to get their new device up and running, while promoting Personal Pickup options available through the Apple Store app for iOS devices.

Finally, the company confirms that the new iPad will be available from Best Buy, RadioShack, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart in the United States. Carriers AT&T and Verizon have also announced that they will be offering 4G models of the new iPad beginning with Friday's launch date.

A few times a year, MacRumors partners with MacUpdate to promote their Mac application bundle deal.

Their latest bundle delivers at 11 Mac applications for $49.99 (a $377.79 value if all purchased separately). Notably, it includes VMWare Fusion 4 for the first time. Fusion is a popular virtualization tool that allows users to run Windows on their Mac.

The full bundle includes (retail value in parenthesis):

- VMware Fusion 4 ($49.99) - Run Windows on your Mac without rebooting
- Drive Genius 3 ($99.00) - Optimize, repair, test, resize and clean up your Mac
- PDFpen 5 ($59.95) - Edit and add text, images and signatures to PDFs
- ForkLift 2.5 ($29.95) - File manager and FTP client
- Typinator 5 ($33.00) - Text expansion solution
- DesktopShelves 2 ($14.99) - Display folders as desktop shelves
- Snapheal ($14.99) - Professional-quality image enhancement utility
- Boom ($10.99) - Boost audio output for your entire system
- Phone to Mac ($24.95) - Copy media from an iOS device to your Mac
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition ($29.99) - Action game in the Star Wars Universe
- Worms Special Edition ($9.99) - Classic turn-based strategy game

All apps together are being sold for $49.99 until March 28th.

MacRumors is a promotional partner with MacUpdate. Bundle sales through these links benefit MacRumors financially, and provide a way for readers to directly support this site.

Update: Bundle extended until but now without VMWare, includes Drive Genius 3 instead.

Vietnamese site Tinhte.vn has been spending some more time with the 3rd Generation iPad in their possession.

They took some screenshots of the native apps that come bundled with the new iPad that support its new Retina screen. This is a screenshot from iPhoto (click for full size):

The sizes of these Retina-enabled apps appear to be about 2.5-3x the size of their original counterparts.

These applications are developed by Apple has been upgraded to support the Retina screen, for example with Keynote (iWork software sets), this application previously only 115MB capacity but its latest version is 327MB. Numbers from 109MB or 283MB up to, from 95MB to 269MB Pages, iMovie from 70MB to 404MB.

Existing iPad apps are automatically pixel-doubled to take up the full screen on the new iPad, but appear noticeably less sharp than native Retina graphics.

In a separate post, they took a number of sample photos using the new iPad's 5-megapixel camera. This represents a significant upgrade from the iPad 2's 1-megapixel camera. One sample shot is included here (click for full size):

The 3rd Generation iPad is officially launching on March 16th at retail stores. The bulk of the pre-orders should also be arriving in customers hands on that day.

Bloomberg reports that antitrust investigators with the Federal Trade Commission have issued a subpoena to Apple requesting information on the company's deal to make Google the default search engine on iOS. Google has been reported to have paid Apple $1 billion last year in the iOS search deal, and the subpoena is part of an ongoing antitrust investigation of Google over its actions to lock up search engine traffic.

The agency’s request for documents includes the agreements that made Google the preferred search engine on Apple’s mobile devices, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly and declined to be identified. Google rivals such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) have criticized these agreements as anticompetitive.

The subpoena indicates the FTC is intensifying its scrutiny of Google’s business practices. Details of the Apple-Google relationship may show whether Google is abusing its dominance of Internet search to boost revenue in the mobile phone advertising market, said Allen Grunes, an antitrust lawyer at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP in Washington.

The investigation is also looking more broadly at how Google's advertising rates and search results may be being manipulated to give Google an unfair advantage in the marketplace.

With Android and iOS now together holding the vast majority of smartphone market share, Google's search engine possesses a dominating position in the rapidly-growing mobile search space. With mobile search expected to pass desktop search within the next few years, Google's dominance and its tie-ins to its own advertising services are garnering significant attention from regulators.

Following reports from late last year indicating that Apple would be switching back to NVIDIA for graphics chips in its next MacBook Pro update, SemiAccurate now reports that NVIDIA's issues with GPU production are apparently leading Apple to rely more heavily on Intel's integrated graphics.

Apple has reportedly been ordering beefed-up integrated graphics from Intel on its Ivy Bridge platform, a development the report claims would be pointless if the chipsets were to be paired with discrete graphics chips from NVIDIA.

Apple upped their SKUs from parts bearing awful Intel GPUs to variants with more of those awful shaders. Since those Ivy Bridge CPUs are going in to laptops that have a GPU, upping the shader count from 6 to 16 should be a waste, they will never be turned on.

If they are going to be turned on, that would mean that the discrete GPU in those machines is either going to be much higher spec’d, or it won’t be there.

With NVIDIA struggling to produce even lower-end Kepler graphics chips, the report suggests that the latter option is more likely and expects that Apple may be bumping integrated-only graphics into the mid-range of its notebook lines. Integrated-only graphics have typically been reserved for Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro form factor, which lacks the space necessary to also house a dedicated graphics chip.

Our analysis indicates that the lower end MacBooks will simply do without a GPU, the higher end parts will remain unchanged, and the middle ground will have some models with and some without a GPU instead of almost all with a discrete Nvidia GPU. Those without will make a much larger portion of the mix than they would have at this time last month, if there were any at all.

One other factor that may also be at play is rumors of a significant redesign of the MacBook Pro to yield a form factor more in line with that of the popular MacBook Air. A slimming down of the chassis may see Apple seeking to reduce size and power consumption in certain areas, requirements that may result in the company bringing lower-powered CPU and graphics options to its mid-range machines than might have otherwise been seen.