Apple’s new 175-acre, doughnut-shaped campus will be an engineering marvel. The building will be powered completely by renewable energy, it will be the world’s largest naturally ventilated building, and it already looks like something from outer space. But one of the centerpieces of the grand structure will be the Steve Jobs theater.
Details around the theater, much like the rest of Apple’s campus, had been kept under strict wraps. But interest around the theater grew when Apple announced it would be unveiling its latest iPhone in the brand new structure. Now some pictures have emerged of the 1,000-seater that’s been named after Apple founder Steve Jobs.
The raised circular structure you see here is the lobby of the theater, which is built above the ground. The theater is entered through the lobby, but is completely underground, right adjacent to it.
The theater itself is almost nearing competition, and pictures show it still covered by scaffolding and covers. A giant circular stage occupies the center, and has raised seating around it.
The underground theater is likely to feature a lot of natural wood finishes, reports 9to5Mac. This would be a stark contrast to the carbon fiber roof, 20-foot glass walls, and minimal design of the lobby that is adjacent to it.
And the 1000 lucky people who get to attend Apple’s 12th September launch event will sit in style. The seats, where are kept tantalizingly under wraps in the leaked photos, reportedly cost $14,000 (Rs. 9 lakh) apiece. That’s Rs. 90 crore that Apple has spent on its seats alone.
This diagram shows how the theater will be positioned. The underground theater is to the left of the image, with the glass lobby to its right.
A different view of Steve Jobs Theater. Pretty much entirely underground. Stadium seating (1,000 seats total). pic.twitter.com/NsoBkczwz6
— Neil Cybart (@neilcybart) August 28, 2017
And while the theater is likely to become a permanent fixture of Apple’s future launch events, it comes with a downside. Its 1000 person seating capacity means that Apple’s already-exclusive launch events will become even more exclusive. In the past, has used much bigger spaces for its launches — the Bill Graham auditorium, which has been the location of several new iPhone launches in the past, had a capacity of 1,600. But with a grand theater now situated right within Apple’s campus, it could play host to many iconic launches for the world’s most valuable company.