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
73 months ago
How many stayed awake?
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aldaris Avatar
73 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
73 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
73 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
73 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
73 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

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT 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 simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...