Apple always live streams its iPhone events on its own Events website and the Events app on the Apple TV, but this year, for the first time, Apple also did a YouTube live stream.

Within just 10 minutes of when the event kicked off, Apple had over 500,000 viewers, and at the live stream's peak, when new iPhones were being shown off, Apple reached 1.875 million viewers.

appleyoutubelivestream

After this screenshot was taken, views climbed even higher

We've never before known how many people watch Apple's live streams because the company doesn't share that information, but the YouTube metric gives us some idea of how popular it was. For comparison, it earned more views than YouTube live streams from other companies like Samsung and Google.

The biggest YouTube live stream saw 8 million people tuning in when Felix Baumgartner jumped from a space capsule at 120,000 feet and parachuted back to the earth's surface, while SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launch in September 2018 garnered 2.3 million views.

The 1.875 million viewer metric does not include those who watched the live stream on the ‌Apple TV‌ through the Events app or through the Events website, which means actual live viewership was likely a good deal higher.


Apple's live stream is no longer available on YouTube at the current time, but the full event video has been uploaded.

Top Rated Comments

Cold_Beaver Avatar
82 months ago
How many stayed awake?
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aldaris Avatar
82 months ago
How many stayed awake?
I’m beginning to just use the MacRumors live updating post. Go ahead and check it every 5-10 minutes... certainly not worth the 90 minutes... seriously.

In all seriousness I think the keynote formula is played enough. Apple needs to innovate in that arena or just go ahead with press releases and videos online. Seriously the “we even made a video” you just spent 10 minutes talking about it, now we need a 5 minute video recap?! Seriously?!

I don’t know about the rest of you but doing these the way Apple has for the last decade is exhausting... so many other tech companies have copied it/attempted to and it’s just blah at this point.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThunderSkunk Avatar
82 months ago
I don’t know about the rest of you but doing these the way Apple has for the last decade is exhausting... so many other tech companies have copied it/attempted to and it’s just blah at this point.
I dozed off three times watching this one and had to rewind. The last time, I didn’t even bother. This entire keynote could have been about a 15 minute affair without all the padding.

If Apple were me showing up to fourth grade, they’d be told they’re a little light on lunch money and would spend all recess hiding from the resulting punch in the stomach.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GubbyMan Avatar
82 months ago
The quality of the live stream on Apple's website was so much better than YouTube's 1080p stream. YouTube had horrible compression artifacts whenever there was a dark background.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DakotaGuy Avatar
82 months ago
I couldn't watch it live because I was busy at work trying to make money to buy this stuff.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rjohnstone Avatar
82 months ago
The stream from Apple was horrible. Audio kept going out of sync or dropped out all together.
Didn’t see anything worth upgrading my Xs for.
Why they kept the Series 3 watches around, yet dropped the Series 4 is beyond me.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....