For the first time ever, Apple streamed its iPhone event live on YouTube. It normally locks it down to a stream held on its own site, and prior to 2018, it was only available on Safari browsers. It’s slowly loosened its restrictions with this year being the most readily available for people and they responded in kind.
The new format was an unsurprising hit, getting nearly 2 million streamers during the event. In total, the Apple event garnered over 1.8 million streamers at its peak.
Apple’s iPhone events always receive an unprecedented amount of attention, but now we are able to put into context just how much. In years past, in streaming the event through its own site, Apple didn’t disclose streaming numbers. YouTube, however, shows the number during the live stream, giving us a peek at Apple’s numbers.
They were quite impressive as intrigue around the iPhone 11 (and Apple’s other announcements) was at a fever pitch.
We appreciate Apple using new formats to make its events readily available. It makes it more convenient to keep up with all of its announcements. Besides YouTube, Apple has also embraced social media, offering to send people announcement tweets on Twitter as the event goes on.
Apple’s next event will likely take place in the next couple of months. We’re hoping it continues streaming its events on YouTube from here on out.