AppleInsider Staff
Apple on Monday commented on Hollywood's recent, albeit limited, adoption of iPhone for at-home production during the ongoing coronavirus quarantine, saying the device offers a unique mix of portability and "broadcast quality" video suitable for professional applications. That could be a hint that the company plans to leverage iPhone to stream its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Apple played up iPhone's industry-leading camera capabilities in a statement to TechCrunch.
We know that people are relying on their favorite shows while staying at home, and we are happy to be a part of that process with the team at American Idol. iPhone offers a unique solution to deliver broadcast quality video, in the palm of your hand, while keeping production staff and on-air talent safe and in their homes.
ABC in April detailed how a crew of 45 people have employed unconventional methods to wrap the current "American Idol" season. It was presumed at the time that the production relied on a flagship iPhone, either an iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max, and accompanying accessories.
Today's report confirms the arrangement, which consists of three iPhone 11 Pro handsets, a tripod and a ring light. Show staff helped judges and contestants set up the makeshift platform and is editing footage from home.
A number of broadcasters have found some success with an all-iPhone setup, including NBC, which recently aired a "Parks and Recreation" reunion special shot using a process similar to that of "American Idol." Late-night talk show "Conan" is also using iPhone to film daily segments aired on YouTube and other platforms.
Apple, too, is planning to rely on iPhone for streaming duties at WWDC this year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Apple will likely rely on conventional high-end broadcast cameras and live streaming production gear — previously used to air live product launch events from Steve Jobs Theater — for important proceedings like WWDC's keynote. What is unclear, however, is how the company plans to stream the multitude of technical sessions typically planned for the week-long conference.
While the final schedule has yet to be made public, Apple will likely hold multiple concurrent presentations for viewing online. That would either necessitate the purchase or rental of additional production equipment or the use of alternative streaming platforms like iPhone.
Apple last week announced WWDC 2020 kicks off on June 22. A completely virtual experience, the conference is being held online for the first time due to COVID-19.
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Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Marko Zivkovic
11 Comments
The iPhone's cameras are perfectly fine for WWDC.
The challenge is the handset's audio recording capabilities.
I live in a suburban Silicon Valley community just like many Apple engineers. Weekday daytimes at my condo complex are NOISY. The landscapers are here at least twice a week, mowing lawns, running gas-powered leaf blowers. Today, they also did hedge trimming with gas-powered devices which also included leaf blowing for the debris after the trimming was done. And that's just my place. There's also landscape maintenance noise from the complex next door.
Garbage trucks, recycling trucks. Then there is the nearly constant construction noises from both private units as well as work being done for the complex. Tree trimming, roof cleaning, metalwork. Monday through Friday there is usually some sort of noisy activity within earshot from 8am to 7pm, quiet times are rare.
Assuming many Apple engineers live in similar Silicon Valley neighborhoods, the acoustical interruptions will be a major challenge. And that doesn't include screaming kids, barking dogs, beeping from commercial trucks backing up, etc.
Heck, there are even more screaming kid noises from the neighbors because everyone is still "sheltering in place" when normally both parents would be at work and the kids would be in offsite daycare.
The world is noisy as hell and that will be the big challenge for WWDC remote presenters.
Dark mode front page! It looks nice, I like it.
It was weird having the forum in dark mode, yet the front page was all bright and white. It's good that they got around to fixing the front page too to match the dark mode of the forum!
Everyone else is doing it... why not?