I'm working on a Core Data app (for iPhone 3.0, though I don't think that really makes a difference here) and it will need to ship with a "starter" database filled with data. With SQLite, I would just have the App copy the populated database from the bundle into the App's documents directory on first launch and then load that database - all the information would come along with it and we'd be ready to go. But with Core Data, I'm not really sure if I can just save the Persistent store to the App bundle and copy it before having Core Data start doing its thing. Will this cause any problems? There is quite a bit of initial data, so I don't want to package it in another format and have to parse through it.

Yes, you can copy over a pre-populated persistent store.

I created a Mac app that populates a store. It is copied into my bundle and at start, copied to the Docs directory. This works fine. I am told the Core Data Books example was developed the same way.

Please note this doesn't mean you can just copy over any old SQLite file. It has to be a Core Data persistent store, though I think you understand that based on your question.