In what it is calling a “preview rollout,” Apple yesterday started to issue the branded titanium credit card it announced it would be offering in partnership with Goldman Sachs and MasterCard last March. But most of the hundreds of thousands of folks who have already requested the card will have to wait until the end of the month to get theirs.

“The customers who got access on Tuesday morning were among those who applied to be ‘notified’ when the card first became available. The credit card will be released to the wider public later in August. At that time, all customers will be able to apply for the card in their iPhone wallet app,” CNBC’s Paayal Zaveri reports.

“Once selected, users have to make sure they have iOS 12.4 installed on their iPhone to proceed with the registration. Information including address, birthday, income level, and the last four Social Security Number digits have to be entered in the form. The data is shared with Goldman Sachs, which will approve or decline the application in real-time, in less than one minute,” Chris Smith writes for BGR.

A series of how-to videos Apple published on YouTube that tell you everything you need to know about the card are embedded in Smith’s story.

“The Apple Card is part of a major push by Apple to expand beyond deriving revenue primarily from the margins on hardware purchases. It joins Apple Music, iCloud, the App Store, AppleCare+, and other initiatives in Apple's portfolio of services intended to pull more lifetime revenue from users in the face of more infrequent smartphone updates,” observes Samuel Axon for Ars Technica.

How is it different from Apple Pay? Joe McGauley tackles  that question for Thrillist: “While Apple Pay has been around since 2014, it essentially serves as a way to tether an existing physical credit or debit card and pay for things digitally using funds from that account via your device. The Apple Card, meanwhile, becomes the credit card itself, and provides the line of credit,” McGauley explains.

“I got to hold the card itself and it is very nice, although it is fairly thick and felt a little bit heavier than the typical metal credit card. You can use the card without your phone nearby like any other card, but it doesn’t support contactless payments -- Apple obviously wants you to use your phone or watch for that,” Nilay Patel writes  for The Verge.

“Once you’re all set up, you will actually have three credit card numbers associated with your Apple Card: the number assigned to your phone, the number assigned to the physical card, and a virtual number you can access in the app for online merchants that don’t take Apple Pay,” Patel adds.

“Apple’s cashback card will offer up to 3% back on purchases made directly from Apple (including digital purchases and subscriptions), 2% cashback on any purchase made using Apple Pay and 1% cashback on purchases made with the physical, titanium card,” writes  Eli Blumenthal for CNET.

“Cashback is put back into your account every day through a feature the company calls ‘Daily Cash,’ and can be used to pay down your bill or send to friends through Apple Cash. You can also transfer Apple Cash to your bank account,” he continues.

“Apple Card syncs up with the iOS Wallet app to display a colorful representation of how much money you have spent, sorting transactions into categories like entertainment or food & drink. A payments wheel shows how much interest will be charged if you only pay part of the balance,” Shannon Liao writes  for CNN Business.

“Apple Card does not have any fees besides the variable interest charged when a balance is kept unpaid. It charges 12.99% to 23.99% interest rate, depending on your credit score. That’s slightly lower than what Apple initially advertised, pushed down by the Fed’s rate cut. But those aren't better or worse compared to competitors,” Liao adds.

“Don't let the shiny titanium fool you. This isn’t just a bid to replace the credit card you already have. It's also a part of Apple’s master plan to replace your physical wallet with technological solutions that live inside its hardware and software ecosystem,” points out  Arielle Pardes for Wired. 

“Apple has already rolled out digital transit cards to replace metro tickets in Beijing and Shanghai. Last fall, the company introduced the first wave of digital student ID cards at six college campuses across the United States. It’s working on creating digital tickets to performances, sports events, and movie theaters. Apple even wants to one day replace your driver’s license and passport with a digital ID that lives inside your iPhone,” Pardes continues.

If it doesn’t first live inside your Amazon/Whole Foods/AWS/PillPack handy-dandy-all-in-one app that does everything for you except actually work out on the Peloton (or mat).