Apple Received Approval Just Last Week to Host First-Ever Event at Steve Jobs Theater

Following several months of construction, Apple tomorrow will host its first-ever event at Steve Jobs Theater at its new Apple Park headquarters. Apple invited members of the press to the event on August 31.

steve jobs theater
Records uncovered by VentureBeat, however, show Apple didn't receive approval to host the event until the next day.

Cupertino, California city officials granted Apple a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy for Steve Jobs Theater on September 1, indicating that the theater has passed various fire and safety checks. The final signature was September 4.

temporary certificate steve jobs theater
Despite needing additional work of some kind, per the records, Steve Jobs Theater is now deemed to be a safe venue for the hundreds of journalists and other invitees that will sit down for tomorrow's iPhone X reveal.

Apple filed for the certificate on August 8, so it's likely that Tim Cook or another senior executive told Cupertino to hold off on signing the paperwork, which would have hinted at the location of Apple's September event.

Apple is among few companies that would go to such lengths to obscure or delay such information, but unfortunately for it, a leak of the iOS 11 golden master version has revealed many details expected to be announced tomorrow.

In addition to the iPhone X, Apple is widely rumored to unveil the less expensive iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, a new Apple TV with 4K video playback, and Apple Watch Series 3 models, including some with LTE connectivity.

MacRumors.com will provide full coverage of the keynote, which begins tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...

Top Rated Comments

nutriousmitten Avatar
96 months ago
Crikey, they sent out invites prior to having approval for using the theatre?
Ha, you really think the city of Cupertino is going to deny any permits to Apple? As the article says, it’s likely that Apple “asked” them to hold off on signing and/or putting the documents in the public domain in order for their business interests/secrets to be protected, which is more important than following civic procedures.

Apple runs that town.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kungxpao Avatar
96 months ago
Sheesh the comments on this forum has really gone to **** lately. Why are people so negative about everything?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tliede20 Avatar
96 months ago
@itsthenewdc TOTALLY agree with you! I'm hoping when a majority of development moves into the new campus that we see secrecy come back ten-fold. As much as I enjoy reading MacRumors and other competitive journalistic sites... I'm also a bit disappointed in the fact that there will be little to no exciting news for me tomorrow other than the pre-order date / availability. Kind of a bummer really. Here's to knowing NOTHING about iPhone 9. >.<
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
profets Avatar
96 months ago
Crikey, they sent out invites prior to having approval for using the theatre?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0003939 Avatar
96 months ago
Why do they bother going the extra lengths for obscurity when with every announcement more and more leaks occur? Hell, for being the inaugural event at a theatre called the Steve Jobs Theater, Steve Jobs would be severely pissed about the sheer amount of leaks.
I don't think Apple can control the employee that went rogue for whatever reason he wanted to leak iOS 11 GM.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jdillings Avatar
96 months ago
And now the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy form leaks
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)