Over 1.8 million people watched Apple's iPhone event live on YouTube

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited September 2019
For the first time, Apple fans were able to tune into the company's annual iPhone unveiling live via YouTube. The strategy appears to have paid off, with nearly two million viewers tuning in to watch CEO Tim Cook and others unveil a host of new hardware live from Cupertino.




Historically, Apple has streamed its special events exclusively from Apple.com, and in years past had even imposed a Safari-only browser restriction. Over the last couple years, Apple loosened its restrictions, giving users the option to watch the streams in their browser of choice. This year, the company opened the doors even further by streaming it live on YouTube.

Apple does not disclose the number of viewers it sees on its web and app streams, but YouTube does report those stats publicly. During its peak, this year's YouTube stream reached more than 1.8 million viewers who all tuned in to get a first look at the new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone Pro Max.

The results were unsurprising, though, as a quick scroll through the video uploads of past Apple events shows that there are lots of people who turn to YouTube to get their Apple fix.

Apple Event upload views


The upload of Apple's September 2016 event boasts an impressive 4.7 million views, and WWDC of this year clocked in 1.4 million views.

For Apple, the numbers suggest the addition of YouTube Live was somewhat of a natural one. Not only does it reduce the strain on Apple's own servers, but it also expands the audience by giving users -- importantly those not yet tied to Apple's ecosystem -- the ability to view how and where they want.

There's every reason to believe that the next Apple event, which will likely take place sometime this fall, will also be streamed via YouTube.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    FolioFolio Posts: 698member
    Live blog of event also topped Most Read list of the Guardian when I checked. Surprised me. (Blog kinda snarky though, the section I skimmed. But at least more free publicity.) Great day for Apple. You can't buy this type of advertising!
    AppleExposedwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 15
    lolliverlolliver Posts: 494member
    It's great that they have included this option for those tat couldn't watch it directly from Apple. I much prefer the Apple events app on Apple TV than the YouTube app though so that is how I will continue to watch these events. The YouTube interface is infuriating.
    AppleExposedwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 15
    davidmalcolmdavidmalcolm Posts: 384member
    I planned on watching on YouTube (because sometimes Apple's streams kick you out if you pause or whatever) but in the end I watched in the Apple App on Apple TV. So that's 2 million people watching who weren't watching on Apple TV or through Apple.com... that's pretty intense.
    lolliverAppleExposedwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 15
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,335member
    Apple embracing YouTube?  Ha!  The day won't come until they finally unshackle Safari users and allow us to watch YouTube in 4k.  It's sick and twisted Apple forces us to resort to Chrome or FireFox to watch 4k!
  • Reply 5 of 15
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,251member
    Different topic but I really like the new Apple logo they used on this presentation. Like to see them replace the solid white one with this one. 
    applesnorangeswatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 15
    superklotonsuperkloton Posts: 86member
    jdw said:
    Apple embracing YouTube?  Ha!  The day won't come until they finally unshackle Safari users and allow us to watch YouTube in 4k.  It's sick and twisted Apple forces us to resort to Chrome or FireFox to watch 4k!
    That's because they don't support Google's VP9. They joined however the consortium of its successor, AV1, which includes Google's VP10. So by the time AV1 gets spread out more widely, 4K YouTube will also be supported on all Apple products – albeit only on new hardware since current Apple devices don't support AV1 yet. 
    dedgeckoStrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 15
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    jdw said:
    Apple embracing YouTube?  Ha!  The day won't come until they finally unshackle Safari users and allow us to watch YouTube in 4k.  It's sick and twisted Apple forces us to resort to Chrome or FireFox to watch 4k!
    That's because they don't support Google's VP9. They joined however the consortium of its successor, AV1, which includes Google's VP10. So by the time AV1 gets spread out more widely, 4K YouTube will also be supported on all Apple products – albeit only on new hardware since current Apple devices don't support AV1 yet. 
    Google doesn't even support its own VP9 on its YouTube app on the Apple TV, iPad, or iPhone.
    edited September 2019 StrangeDayssuperklotonAppleExposedwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 15
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,213member
    Mike Wuerthele said:
    jdw said:
    Apple embracing YouTube?  Ha!  The day won't come until they finally unshackle Safari users and allow us to watch YouTube in 4k.  It's sick and twisted Apple forces us to resort to Chrome or FireFox to watch 4k!
    That's because they don't support Google's VP9. They joined however the consortium of its successor, AV1, which includes Google's VP10. So by the time AV1 gets spread out more widely, 4K YouTube will also be supported on all Apple products – albeit only on new hardware since current Apple devices don't support AV1 yet. 
    Google doesn't even support its own VP9 on its YouTube app on the Apple TV, iPad, or iPhone.
    YouTube is offering videos encoded in AV1 so IMO just a matter of months, perhaps a year, before YouTube, 4K and iPhones/iPads will play nicely together too. 
    dedgecko
  • Reply 9 of 15
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    lolliver said:
    It's great that they have included this option for those tat couldn't watch it directly from Apple. I much prefer the Apple events app on Apple TV than the YouTube app though so that is how I will continue to watch these events. The YouTube interface is infuriating.
    I also hate the YouTube interface with a passion. It’s so damned lazy, user-hostile, and typical of Google.
    StrangeDaysAppleExposedwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 15
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    flaneur said:
    lolliver said:
    It's great that they have included this option for those tat couldn't watch it directly from Apple. I much prefer the Apple events app on Apple TV than the YouTube app though so that is how I will continue to watch these events. The YouTube interface is infuriating.
    I also hate the YouTube interface with a passion. It’s so damned lazy, user-hostile, and typical of Google.
    Agreed. Their ATV app is horrendous, breaking many of the UX standards of the platform. They drop the ball on even simple things, like recognizing the Play button to start a video in addition to the OK/select button. Or that it's still impossible to switch the audio endpoint (toggle between TV and AirPlay/HomePods, for example), because they refuse to implement the standard ATV top-pulldown menu during playback.

    All so they can use the same console app, regardless of platform. Lazy, lazy development.
    AppleExposedwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 15
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,358member
    rob53 said:
    Different topic but I really like the new Apple logo they used on this presentation. Like to see them replace the solid white one with this one. 
    Me too. I've been looking for a good pic to use as a desktop pic.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 15
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,358member

    flaneur said:
    I also hate the YouTube interface with a passion. It’s so damned lazy, user-hostile, and typical of Google.
    Me too! I had to watch it on YT because my older OS and Safari were having some trouble with the connection. 

    As tedious as the YT interface is, it played well. It's also interesting that Apple's QT interface is also lazy, user hostile, dated, and tedious. I end up using VLC more often than not. And I can use the Magic TrackPad for some functions.

    I'm hot sure what value 4K viewing provides regarding the Apple Event. Is it 4K on the Apple TV? I don't have one yet, but maybe the next version...
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 15
    crossladcrosslad Posts: 527member
    I watched it on YouTube for the first time. It wasn’t a pleasant experience though as the stream kept freezing every couple of minutes and I had to keep exiting and going back into the stream. This was on an android phone by the way.
    edited September 2019 watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 15
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,213member
    crosslad said:
    I watched it on YouTube for the first time. It wasn’t a pleasant experience though as the stream kept freezing every couple of minutes and I had to keep exiting and going back into the stream. This was on an android phone by the way.
    I watched most of it on Youtube (other than 15 minutes on a customer call). There were no hiccups that I noticed.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    This was definitely the "Upgrade to iPhone" event.

    After watching the new iPhone dismantlke the last thing knockoffs had going for them (Pixels good cameras) and free Apple TV+ and cheap Arcade pricing. I couldn't stop thinking "why would you buy a knockoff anymore?"

    So it makes sense to spread the news further than your user base.

    StrangeDays said:
    flaneur said:
    lolliver said:
    It's great that they have included this option for those tat couldn't watch it directly from Apple. I much prefer the Apple events app on Apple TV than the YouTube app though so that is how I will continue to watch these events. The YouTube interface is infuriating.
    I also hate the YouTube interface with a passion. It’s so damned lazy, user-hostile, and typical of Google.
    Agreed. Their ATV app is horrendous, breaking many of the UX standards of the platform. They drop the ball on even simple things, like recognizing the Play button to start a video in addition to the OK/select button. Or that it's still impossible to switch the audio endpoint (toggle between TV and AirPlay/HomePods, for example), because they refuse to implement the standard ATV top-pulldown menu during playback.

    All so they can use the same console app, regardless of platform. Lazy, lazy development.

    I could have SWORN when Apple TV 4 first launched YouTube had standard features like Siri voice control and they were later removed.

    flaneur said:
    lolliver said:
    It's great that they have included this option for those tat couldn't watch it directly from Apple. I much prefer the Apple events app on Apple TV than the YouTube app though so that is how I will continue to watch these events. The YouTube interface is infuriating.
    I also hate the YouTube interface with a passion. It’s so damned lazy, user-hostile, and typical of Google.

    Shh.... the google guy is here.
    watto_cobra
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