Apple’s big reveal: At least two women work there

Apple says it’s a big supporter of diversity, but you wouldn’t get that from the company’s splashy iPhone launch in Cupertino on Tuesday, when just one woman appeared on stage alongside nine men — and she spoke for just seven minutes of a two-hour presentation.

The event showcased Apple’s new iPhones, a new Apple Watch, and an update to the Apple TV, but for all the new technology, it was the same old story when it came to diversity during the lengthy keynote, with no African-Americans appearing on stage.

During the event, the following men spoke:

• Tim Cook — Apple CEO who hosted the event and gave an emotional speech about Steve Jobs and the new Apple headquarters.
• Jeff Williams — Introduced the new Apple Watch
• Eddy Cue — Introduced the new Apple TV 4K
• Craig Federighi — showcased the new iPhone X, including a Face ID fail
• Phil Schiller — Introduced the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X
• Jenova Chen — CEO of That Game Company, who showed off game for Apple TV (along with his colleague “Mike,” who was also on stage)
• Atli Mar — CEO of Directive Games, who showed off an augmented reality game (with an unnamed male colleague who was also on stage)

And representing women:

• Angela Ahrendts — Apple’s head of retail, who was speaking about the future of…retail

One other woman appeared during the event. Deirdre Caldbeck, who works on the Apple Watch team, was shown via video on a paddleboard in the middle of a lake, as part of a demo showing that you can now use the watch to make calls.

Given Apple’s own figures showing just 28 percent of its leadership positions are filled by women, this was hardly a surprise. Since 1997, just 19 women have graced the stage at Apple events, and only nine of those were Apple representatives.

In terms of racial diversity, Apple’s event was also a complete failure, with all but one of the presenters white.

Such a lack of diversity on stage is nothing new for Apple, despite Tim Cook’s comments in 2015 acknowledging that “there is a lot more work to be done.” At the launch of the iPhone 7 last September, Apple had women speaking on stage for a total of just 8 minutes out of a 107-minute presentation. At that event there were two African-Americans on stage, and when questioned about the lack of diversity, Apple’s PR team pointed to “a Canadian, and a British woman.”

Earlier this year, Apple shareholders shot down a proposal that would have required the company to improve the diversity of its top ranks, with just over 95 percent of the vote opposing it — which was slightly more than the number who vetoed a similar proposal the previous year.

On the company’s Diversity and Inclusion website, it states: “At Apple, we take a holistic view of diversity that looks beyond the usual measurements.”

Apple was not immediately available to comment on the lack of diversity during the presentation when contacted by VICE News.