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If You're Having Trouble Streaming The iPhone 8 Apple Event, Here's Why

by Chris Tognotti
JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images

Don't look now, but the first unveiling of the iPhone 8 is nearly here. It's widely reported that Apple will be announcing the latest version of its iconic smartphone during its upcoming Tuesday, Sept 12 event, and in doing so setting the new standard for high-performance, high-end, and likely top-dollar portable tech. But if you're trying to watch the event live, you may have noticed a peculiar problem ― if you're wondering why Apple's iPhone 8 event won't stream, it could be because Google Chrome is blocked from playing it.

As with any big new iPhone reveal, it's possible that Apple will be rolling out some new features and tweaks that have never before been seen in versions past. It's enough to make any diehard fan want to log on and watch the event live, to get the latest specs and details as fast as they possibly can, straight from Tim Cook's mouth to their ears.

But it's not quite so simple, at least not if you're not a current Apple user who uses the company's Safari browser. In fact, if you want to watch all the action as it happens, you need to do so through an Apple product equipped with the company's signature web browser, meaning not everybody gets to see it.

The only way you can actually watch the event live is to stream it with Safari on an Apple device, be it a Mac, and iPad, or an iPhone. There's one sole alternative that will reportedly work ― streaming it through Microsoft Edge on a Windows 10-equipped PC ― but outside of that, sad to say, you're out of luck.

Apple historically restricts streams of its events to Apple users, giving them the first look at the latest tech offerings. It's perhaps frustrating to people who don't have the ability to watch it themselves, but if you're willing to wait a little while, full videos of every major Apple event are always eventually uploaded after the fact.

In other words, if you're eager to watch the event live but you're not already an Apple user, or don't have a Windows 10 PC that runs the Microsoft Edge browser, you're going to need to rely on somebody who is. Do you have a friend, or roommate, or family member who's planning to watch on their Apple device? If so, you should probably try to join them.

This time around, it's expected that the iPhone 8 will set a new bar for the cost of a smartphone, although obviously, nothing's official until it's actually announced. Multiple outlets, including CNET, have suggested that one version of the latest iPhone could cost north of $1000. Needless to say, that's a towering price for a consumer phone; if Apple indeed announces such a high price on Tuesday, the event will no doubt be used to showcase what justifies that gold-plated price tag.

For perspective, the iPhone 7 plus debuted at $769 back in late 2016. While the original iPhone ― released all the way back in 2007 back when the late Steve Jobs was still running things ― started at a similarly high price point of $499 for a 4 gigabyte model, there was a lull in the following years where prices ticked downwards. The iPhone 4, for example, released at a price of just $199 for a 16 gigabyte model, and $299 for a 32 gigabyte model.

While the iPhone 8 is believed to be the big reveal at Tuesday's event, in the past Apple has also announced some intriguing other projects alongside their flagship phone line. Back in 2015, it first announced the Apple Watch, and rolled out the Apple Watch Series 2 in 2016.

In short, if you want to find out exactly what's coming down Apple's technological pipeline, you should either watch the event, or if you can't, keep up to date with the latest details by following along on social media.