October 4th Media Event to Be Held at Apple's Headquarters?

AllThingsD reports that Apple's iPhone media event apparently scheduled for October 4th will be held at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California rather than the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco as has been typical for their iPad and iPod events.

Sources close to the company say the demonstration — currently scheduled for Tuesday October 4, a date first reported by AllThingsD — will be held at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California.

The report notes that it is unknown why Apple has chosen its own Town Hall Auditorium for the event, but offers a couple of theories including the possibility of uncertainty in locking down a date preventing Apple from booking an outside venue or a desire to give new CEO Tim Cook a more intimate venue for the first major product introduction under his official watch.

apple town hall
Apple's Town Hall auditorium (Source: CNET)

Apple has certainly used its on-campus facilities for media events in the past, most recently last October's "Back to the Mac" event. The site has also been used for the company's iOS media and developer preview events typically held each spring ahead of new hardware releases, as well as last July's press conference to address concerns over antenna performance on the iPhone 4.

Apple's iPhone introductions have until this year taken place at San Francisco's Moscone Center as part of larger events, with the original iPhone first being shown at Macworld Expo and later introductions coming at the company's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts has been Apple's major off-campus site for those media events not associated with conferences such as Macworld and WWDC. It has typically hosted Apple's fall media events that have focused on iPod and iTunes, and has also been the site of Apple's two iPad introductions.

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...
amazon black friday

Amazon Kicks Off Black Friday Sale With Major Discounts on Apple Accessories, TVs, and More

Sunday November 23, 2025 7:12 am PST by
Black Friday deals have begun, and Amazon is one of the best places you can find steep discounts on numerous products this week. We've already collected all of the best Apple-related deals you'll find at Amazon (and other retailers) in our Apple Black Friday Deals post, so below you'll find other discounts on devices like Anker accessories, Beats headphones, video games, TVs, and more. Note:...
Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Crease-Free iPhone Fold on Track for 2026 Launch as Development Advances

Monday November 24, 2025 10:25 am PST by
Apple is making progress on the development of the book-style foldable iPhone expected in 2026, according to a report from Chinese site UDN. The device has reportedly entered the engineering validation stage, and Apple is gearing up for mass production. Citing supply chain sources, UDN says that Apple has solved "the crease problem" that has plagued most foldable smartphones, and the...

Top Rated Comments

Samuriajackon Avatar
185 months ago
U built a town hall...might as well use it.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdowns Avatar
185 months ago
Nailed on IMHO, all fits

If the keynote was taking place in downtown San Francisco or whatever then Steve has to drive or be driven down there, likely in heavy traffic, tiring for a man who is not very well

He would already be on campus doing his chairman's job and holding meetings etc so it easy for him just to pop into the auditorium, less tiring, less effort for him, smaller stage

I am 99.99% certain we will see Steve playing an active role in the launch


I love these theories. Where do people get this stuff?

So Jobs is too weak to sit in a limo and be driven to the Moscone Center but he's on campus holding meetings.

You will not see Jobs at the announcement as his presence would only serve to overshadow Cook and the new product(s).
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrJohnnyN Avatar
185 months ago
Don't care where it's held... just as long as it's soon! :)
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
easy4lif Avatar
185 months ago
anyone notice that its 10 years ago that they introduced the original ipod in October, in the same venue that their using for this event
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applesith Avatar
185 months ago
Maybe because they really are just introducing an iPhone 4S with minor upgrades and perhaps don't want to draw TOO much attention to that fact. :)

This is Apple, it will get huge attention regardless of where they present it or how many people are in the audience.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
QuarterSwede Avatar
185 months ago
The most reasonable explanation from a thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1234128) already on this:

I don't see the location of the keynote reflecting the exact (5 vs 4S) product being launched.

What I do see, is a very dynamic, shifting date for launch, which led to an inability to secure the typical Yerba Buena location. Not knowing the exact launch date makes it a little tough to secure a venue. Whereas if the event is held in Cupertino, Apple can make the announcement when they're damn good and ready.

Something is definitely up over Apple. Something is causing a delay. Bad screens on the (rumored) bigger iPhone 5 screen? iOS 5? who knows... Let the theories and speculation begin!
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)