An Apple event like Wednesday's is about more than the company's latest innovations. It's also a symbol of just how hard Silicon Valley is working at reflecting the diversity of its workforce and the general population.
In a move that is both depressing and encouraging, Apple selected three women to present on stage. Three is apparently a record-breaking number for such events, but more than a dozen people gave presentations. And they were largely a parade of white men.
While some people cheered the company for giving female executives and designers a prominent role in discussing technological breakthroughs, others bemoaned some truly tone-deaf missteps.
Bravo to #Apple to have women doing some of the demos.— Mike Basinger (@dbasinge) September 9, 2015
Before the first woman even took the stage, male presenters discussed using Apple Watch to monitor a fetal heartbeat as well as an app that tracks reproductive health data.
While anyone can talk about these subjects, some commenters on social media pointed out how it looked just a little like mansplaining.
Just two men, talking about pregnant women and fetal heartbeats. #apple pic.twitter.com/V8S4SLg1ut— Damon Beres (@dlberes) September 9, 2015
Then there was a Photoshopping gaffe that prompted a collective face-palm from the Internet.
Eric Snowden, director of design at Adobe, used Photoshop on the newly unveiled iPad Pro and decided it made perfect sense to demonstrate the tool by turning a woman's neutral mouth into a smiling one.
Have we learned nothing from the "resting bitch face" controversy or the countless times women say men catcall by hollering at them to smile?
“you know what would be a great idea? a man forcing a woman to smile.” - apple, apparently.— Selena Larson (@selenalarson) September 9, 2015
At Apple, we will make sure women smile NO MATTER WHAT— Leah Reich (@ohheygreat) September 9, 2015
Image of a man making a woman smile, thus "fixing" her face. Bold, Apple. Bold. pic.twitter.com/dHVK6iomN8— Alex Griendling (@alexgriendling) September 9, 2015
By the time Irene Walsh, head of design at the medical app company 3D4Medical, took the stage, the disappointment in Apple's handling of diversity was palpable.
No women but hey this model needs to smile more. Really Apple? So much for your Diversity push… #AppleEvent— Michele Titolo (@micheletitolo) September 9, 2015
So is it safe to say that Apple hasn't been paying attention to all the conversations about diversity in tech? #AppleEvent— Lily Herman (@lkherman) September 9, 2015
#AppleEvent Diversity Update: Apple isn’t just 6/6 with white guys, THEY’RE BRINGING IN MICROSOFT’S WHITE GUYS TOO. Game over, PoC and women— Brianna Wu (@Spacekatgal) September 9, 2015
Michelle Peluso, CEO of Gilt, and Jen Folse a senior design producer on Apple TV, also made appearances.
Apple's CEO Tim Cook has spoken candidly about how the tech giant and other tech companies need to get better at hiring diverse employees.
At the June keynote, two women appeared on stage, and he told Mashable in advance of the event that it was important for women and people of color to see themselves on stage at high-profile tech gatherings.
"I think mostly people look up and see, 'you know, I'm like that person and I see what they can do,'" he said.
In August, Apple released its first external diversity report, which showed the company still mostly employs white men, but that it had made some gains toward hiring more black, Hispanic and female workers.
The hard lesson for Apple may just be that putting women and people of color on stage isn't enough — what other presenters do and say matters just as much.