• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Tech

How to Get a Ticket for the Apple-FBI Trial

By
Jeff John Roberts
Jeff John Roberts
Editor, Finance and Crypto
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jeff John Roberts
Jeff John Roberts
Editor, Finance and Crypto
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 18, 2016, 7:22 AM ET
US-ATTACKS-IT-APPLE-FBI
Photograph by TIMOTHY A. CLARY—AFP/Getty Images

It’s no exaggeration to call this the tech trial of the decade—or maybe the century. It’s about Apple and the FBI squaring off over an encrypted iPhone: The U.S. says Apple (AAPL) must decrypt the phone to fight terrorism, but Apple and others say doing this would be a privacy-busting disaster that will hurt freedom across the globe.

Now, after weeks of jousting in the press and a flurry of legal briefs, Apple and the Justice Department will finally meet face-to-face on Tuesday in a California courtroom.

Want to see this historic showdown for yourself? Well, get ready for lots of company. The courtroom will be buzzing with lawyers, reporters and—this is just a guess—hundreds or thousands of activists and Apple loyalists who will turn up to support the company.

It will be a circus, in other words. But a circus with rules: On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym published a memo explaining how many people will get to watch, and how. Note there will be no livestream nor any media updates from the courtroom.

 

 

If you want to attend, here is what you need to know:

  • The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. at the federal courthouse at 3470 12th St. in Riverside, Calif. The court will start giving out tickets at 7 a.m.

 

  • There will be only 36 tickets for the courtroom (Apple and the Justice Department will receive an additional nine tickets each to hand out as they see fit).

 

  • There will also be overflow rooms where additional spectators can watch the hearing on a monitor. Altogether, there is room for a total of 324 spectators.

 

  • The court will give out one ticket per person, and you cannot pick up a ticket for someone else.

So what does this mean in practice? It means get there early—very early, as there’s a good chance there will be a long line even at 7 a.m. Indeed, this could resemble a high-profile hearing before the Supreme Court, when people wait overnight to ensure they get a seat. As one observer put it on Twitter, “It’s gonna be Mad Max up in there.” (But if you miss out, don’t worry, there will be other chances—this thing is almost certainly going to the Supreme Court.)

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Oh, and in case the stakes weren’t high enough, a group of Apple engineers just raised them more by telling The New York Times they will quit rather than obey the FBI order. Finally, here’s a full copy of Judge Pym’s order, which has additional details about security procedures:

Judge Pym Hearing Instructions

About the Author
By Jeff John RobertsEditor, Finance and Crypto
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Jeff John Roberts is the Finance and Crypto editor at Fortune, overseeing coverage of the blockchain and how technology is changing finance.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Commentary
Yes, you're getting a bigger tax refund. Your kids won't thank you for the $3 trillion it's adding to the deficit
By Daniel BunnJanuary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Despite running $75 billion automaker General Motors, CEO Mary Barra still responds to ‘every single letter’ she gets by hand
By Preston ForeJanuary 26, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
An unusual Fed ‘rate check’ triggered a free fall in the U.S. dollar and investors are fleeing into gold
By Jim EdwardsJanuary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, January 26, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJanuary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, January 27, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJanuary 27, 2026
14 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
'The Bermuda Triangle of Talent': 27-year-old Oxford grad turned down McKinsey and Morgan Stanley to find out why Gen Z’s smartest keep selling out
By Eva RoytburgJanuary 25, 2026
3 days ago

Latest in Tech

Photo of Elon Musk
Big TechX
New filings exposing Elon Musk’s financials for X in the U.K. show revenue plummeted 58% in 2024
By Lily Mae LazarusJanuary 27, 2026
6 hours ago
People walk outside of a WeWork office building in London.
Future of WorkOffice Culture
Amazon and JPMorgan led the Fortune 500 in returning to the office 5 days a week. Now they’re leading a coworking comeback
By Jacqueline MunisJanuary 27, 2026
7 hours ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
AIEye on AI
At Davos, CEOs said AI isn’t coming for jobs as fast as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei thinks
By Jeremy KahnJanuary 27, 2026
7 hours ago
Corning CEO Wendell Weeks.
AIData centers
A Meta deal just turned this 175-year-old company into a linchpin of the AI data center boom
By Sharon GoldmanJanuary 27, 2026
8 hours ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
AIDario Amodei
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s 20,000-word essay on how AI ‘will test’ humanity is a must-read—but more for his remedies than his warnings
By Jeremy KahnJanuary 27, 2026
9 hours ago
trump
CybersecuritySocial Media
The White House vows ‘the memes will continue,’ but misinformation experts say please, make it stop
By Kaitlyn Huamani and The Associated PressJanuary 27, 2026
10 hours ago