Steve Jobs Theater

External view of the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park.
External view of the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in February 2018

The Steve Jobs Theater is an underground auditorium at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. Named after Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, it is situated beneath a hill near one of the highest points on the campus. A cylindrical glass pavilion at ground level serves as the entrance, with a subterranean exhibition space that leads to the theater below. The auditorium seats 1,000 people and is used for Apple product announcement press events, sessions during the annual Worldwide Developers Conference, and other company-sponsored events.

Features

The lobby consists of a 22-foot-high (6.7 m) glass cylinder supporting a lens-shaped 80-short-ton (73-metric-ton) carbon-fiber roof composed of 44 radial panels. The structure has no interior support columns, providing unobstructed views of the surrounding campus.[1][2] Foster and Partners describes it as the world's largest carbon-fiber roof and largest glass-supported structure.[1]

The theater includes a 42-foot (13 m) rotating glass elevator that turns 171 degrees between the auditorium and lobby levels. Constructed from chemically tempered glass, it has been described as the world's tallest free-standing glass elevator.[1][3]

The auditorium's seating was designed and manufactured by Poltrona Frau. Each seat includes integrated power outlets and folding armrests, and has been reported to cost approximately US$14,000 (equivalent to $18,389 in 2025).[4][5]

History

The Cupertino City Council unanimously approved Apple's plans for Apple Park on October 15, 2013, after which demolition and site preparation began.[6] On February 22, 2017, Apple announced that the campus auditorium would be named the Steve Jobs Theater.[7]

The theater opened on September 12, 2017, with Apple's "Let's meet at our place" event, where the company introduced the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, Apple Watch Series 3, and Apple TV 4K.[8]

Panorama of the auditorium in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. Taken before the beginning of Apple's first shareholder meeting held in the theater.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park". Foster and Partners. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. ↑ Murphy, Mike (June 6, 2016). "What is Apple actually doing besides building that ridiculously expensive new headquarters?". Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Steve Jobs Theater". Eckersley O'Callaghan Engineers. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  4. ↑ Leswing, Kif (November 9, 2017). "We now know who makes the $14,000 chairs on Apple's new campus". Business Insider. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  5. ↑ Campbell, Mikey (September 8, 2017). "Photo of Steve Jobs Theater construction show leather seats with integrated power outlets". AppleInsider. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Apple Park". City of Cupertino. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Apple Park Opens to Employees in April". Apple Inc. (Press release). Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Apple's iPhone 8 event is happening on September 12th". The Verge. August 31, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

37°19′51″N 122°00′27″W / 37.3308°N 122.0074°W / 37.3308; -122.0074

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.