Everything you need to know about the Steve Jobs Theater
The biggest tech event of the year is about to go down at Apple Park's Steve Jobs Theater, and while numerous stories have predicted what might be revealed, what do we actually know about the setting itself?
Just enough to tantalize, it turns out.
Named for the late CEO and company co-founder Steve Jobs, the theater is set to have its formal unveiling to the public on September 12 — the same day as the presumed iPhone 8 unveiling. And although the phone will certainly be the star of the show, the setting shouldn't be overlooked.
Nestled aside the significantly larger so-called spaceship, the theater is the doughnut hole to the campus's futuristic glazed. Video captured by a late June unauthorized drone flyover shows the building in near completed glory, although if you didn't know there was an underground auditorium it might leave you wondering just where exactly all the seats are supposed to go.
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Speaking of which, the auditorium under the rounded, glass building reportedly seats 1,000 — considerably less than the 7,000 seat Bill Graham Civic Auditorium which played host to the iPhone 7 launch. So, yeah, that probably means going forward Apple events are going to be even more exclusive than they have been in the past simply as a function of real estate.
The above ground lobby of the theater is 165 feet in diameter, and has 20-foot-tall glass walls. The roof will be made of carbon fiber. According to Tim Cook, even at that seemingly diminutive height it will still stand out.
“It’s on a hill, at one of the highest points on this land,” he told Wired earlier this year. “It felt like him.”
Him, in this case, being the oft-revered Steve Jobs. "To honor his memory and his enduring influence on Apple and the world, the theater at Apple Park will be named the Steve Jobs Theater," read a February press release.
But what else do we know about this thing other than the fact that it seats a bunch of people, and has a lobby made partially of glass that rests on a hill?
Well, we know that the entire Apple Park was designed by the architecture firm Foster + Partners. So there's something. Also, we can glean some info from August drone video showing what appears to be two sets of stairs descending to what is presumably the auditorium below. In the same video we see what looks to be a single elevator.
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To be sure, when the drone video was captured work on the lobby wasn't complete. Even so, the space seems extremely bare even by Apple's standards. Where, for example, would one check in? One must assume that is taken care of digitally — and anyway, Apple Park security surely won't take kindly to uninvited guests. Essentially, anyone wandering around looking for a ticket counter is likely to get the boot.
What else do we know about the Steve Jobs theater? Unfortunately, not that much. But that will all change when September 12 rolls around and every major tech publication (including this one) sends reporters to the aforementioned big unveiling. And when that happens, Mashable will have every interior photo of the Steve Jobs Theater your heart could desire. We promise.
