Apple invited media for a sneak peek of the company's first retail store on George Street in Sydney, which will open to the public on Thursday 19 June at 5pm.

There was a big crowd outside the store at 9.45am this morning as Apple staff ensured only invited media were admitted. Everyone else will have to wait another 30-ish hours.

Inside the store, Apple "geniuses" look on in amusement as the press fight it out for a prime position.

Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of retail, makes his presentation on the shop floor.

Not much to see for those stuck behind the masses of camera people.

Looking straight up from the foyer, you can see Apple staff looking down on the proceedings. You can also see the massive Apple logo in two dimensions.

The stairs that lead to the upper floors are striking. This is the view from the ground floor — you can see the first batch of journalists making their way up.

This corner of the first floor is accessory heaven.

More MacBook Pros than you can shake a stick at.

The iPod family lives on level one.

On the top floor there is an area for group-training sessions.

Sydney apparently has the biggest genius bar of any Apple store in the world.

View from the top floor, looking down on George Street.

This is how the store looks from the corner of George and King Street.

Looking out, you can see directly into the Telstra shop. Note the Telstra staff taking a break to look in on the action.

This is the Apple store when standing outside the Telstra store on the opposite side of George Street.

Here is some behind the scenes action of Ella Morton and Matthew Oxley creating our video tour of the store.