Confusion as Apple ends iPhone unveiling event with woman mysteriously disappearing

Apple's unveiling events are always guaranteed to get people talking, but rather than shiny new phones and exciting updates, this time a lot of people are focusing on footage of a woman disappearing.

Tim Cook appeared live in front of millions of people from Apple's headquarters in California's Cupertino today (7 September) to talk all things tech, including the new iPhone 14 and some new AirPod features.

He chatted away for an hour and a half, but at the very end of the livestream Cook was replaced by an image of a woman apparently waiting to board a subway train.

Dressed in a green dress and carrying a brown bag, the woman didn't appear to be showing off any kind of Apple-related item, and there wasn't even an obvious advert on the subway train pointing to anything detailed in the livestream.

As the woman stood looking at the train doors, the footage glitched and she momentarily disappeared, before the screen cut to black with the Apple Logo reminding people of what they were actually there for.

Naturally, it wasn't long before the questions began.

"Anyone know what the woman at the subway in the end of the Apple event today was all about?," one confused Twitter user wrote, while another questioned: "What was that weird thing at the end? With the woman waiting on the subway platform?"

Unfortunately, I don't have the answer, but I can join in the speculation. There was one part of the livestream that vaguely links to the bizarre end clip; one which involved people on a subway train using Apple's new AirPods Pro.

The purpose of the segment was to show off the device's improved noise cancelling features, among other new updates, but given that the woman wasn't obviously wearing earphones, it's hard to say for sure whether this was the intended link.

Another possible reason for the appearance of the woman could have been as a reference to Apple’s rumoured augmented reality features. However, considering the company just spent an hour and a half showing off all of its new developments, it seems bizarre it would allude to something that hadn't been officially unveiled.

The best explanation yet comes from some Twitter users, who believe the woman might be a character from one of Apple TV's shows, Severance. Fans of the show might see the resemblance between the woman and Helly, but Apple further hints to this connection by using a few notes of music Severance viewers will be all too familiar with.

The series ended on a big cliffhanger when it was released earlier this year, so the inclusion of the woman could be Apple's way of hinting about what's to come in a future series. Fans will know we mostly see Helly spending time at work, so it's unclear why she would be on a subway train.

Of course, it's also entirely possible that the woman isn't Helly, and that Apple chose to include the mysterious disappearing woman as a way to give everyone who wasn't interested in its new tech something to talk about. If that is the case, we have to admit, it succeeded.

LADbible has contacted Apple for comment.