Apple has a new way to watch its big iPhone event this year

If you didn't get a coveted invitation to the big iPhone reveal this week, Apple has you covered with a new way to watch the livestream. The event takes place in Cupertino, CA, on Wednesday, September 12, and though there could be some surprises, the biggest headlines are likely to be around Apple's 2018 iPhone line-up.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, interest levels in the event are high. We'll be there to bring back all the news, of course, as well as analysis, but if you're wanting to watch the show yourself, Apple is live-streaming it online.

Unlike in previous years, however, Apple is making it a little easier to watch the event. Last year, for instance, you had to be using one of three different platforms to watch the company's streams: either the Safari browser, via an Apple TV, or using the Microsoft Edge browser on Windows 10. As of WWDC 2018's keynote, Apple allowed Chrome and Firefox users to join in, too. Now there's another way.

That's courtesy of Twitter. Apple has had a Twitter account for some time now, though it doesn't use it in the same way as most brands. Indeed, go to the @Apple account and you'll be told the company hasn't tweeted at all.

It's a side-effect of Apple using Promoted-only Tweets, which Twitter only shows to those users targeted in ad campaigns. Someone receiving one, however, can retweet it into their timeline. If you see it there, you can "heart" the tweet and Apple says it'll shoot you out an update on iPhone day.

For 2018, Apple will also be live-streaming the whole iPhone event through Twitter, the company confirmed with TechCrunch. That decision was teased with Apple's specific language on its promoted tweets, indeed, where it said fans could "watch the #AppleEvent live" on the social network.

However you watch it, the show kicks off at 10am PT – or 1pm ET – and is expected to run for two hours. That may sound like a fair amount of time, but Apple looks set to squeeze a huge amount into its keynote. Along with the brand new iPhone range, expected to amount to three models all of which ditch the home button, we're also likely to see the new Apple Watch Series 4.