John Gruber on Apple Keynotes, Past 20 Years (from The Talk Show 09.25.2026)
Before they get to the products, John Gruber and Andru Edwards talk about the Apple event itself — and how much the crowd in the Steve Jobs Theater has changed. Prompted by Mark Gurman's complaint that Apple now favors influencers who post glowing "reviews" in exchange for free devices and travel, they take the idea apart: iShowSpeed did backflips in front of John Ternus and livestreamed the hands-on area to nearly a million people, and Keke Palmer and Kid Cudi were in the building — but almost nobody leaves with a free iPhone, the domestic press gets "cookies and coffee," and the reporters who ask hard questions haven't been displaced. Apple made room for the new crowd by inviting fewer of its own employees.
Gruber tells the story of running into Gurman at the 2017 iPhone X event — "I'm thinking X, not 10" — and remembers being the odd blogger out at Moscone, where Walt Mossberg, waiting on Steve Jobs, came over to say he loved his work. He also makes the case that the pre-recorded keynote films everyone calls boring are only half the story: event day itself is still a live, electric, movie-premiere scene. Plus: whether the format will evolve around new CEO John Ternus the way it evolved around Tim Cook, why the September iPhone event is "their Oscars," and why Apple would double the size of the Steve Jobs Theater if it could.
Source ↗Ready