Seats are going to be limited at Apple's annual shareholders meeting

• Apple announced the date for its annual shareholders meeting.
• It's taking place on February 12 at the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple's new campus.
• Passes to the meeting will be given to shareholders on a first-come, first-served basis.

Even if you're an Apple shareholder, you might not be able to attend the company's annual shareholder meeting, often called the "AGM," or annual general meeting.

Apple announced on Monday that it's holding its annual shareholder meeting on February 12 in the company's fancy "Steve Jobs Theater" on its new $5 billion campus.

The "Steve Jobs Theater" is beautiful, but it has limited seating. It's equipped with beautiful leather seats, a state-of-the-art projector, and a revolving hidden demo area, but has a capacity of only 1,000.

There are significantly more than 1,000 Apple shareholders. "We anticipate there may be more shareholders who would like to attend than we have seats to accommodate," Apple said on its website. "Therefore, if you're a shareholder as of December 15, 2017 and you'd like to attend the meeting, you will need to register in advance."

According to Apple, registration for the AGM will take place on a first-come, first-served basis. So Apple shareholders will have to log on at a given time with their unique shareholder "control number," press refresh on a website, and hope they got a pass to the AGM - kind of like how Apple fans try to get a new iPhone when preorders open.

Apple shareholders get to vote on several issues relating to the company at the AGM, but the results of the votes are usually unsurprising and in-line with Apple management recommendations. Two years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook first acknowledged Apple's car program at its shareholders meeting.

Here's Apple's full statement:

"Apple will host the 2018 Annual Meeting of shareholders at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino on February 13, 2018. The record date for the meeting is December 15, 2017, and additional details about the meeting will be available soon when we file our proxy statement. We anticipate there may be more shareholders who would like to attend than we have seats to accommodate. Therefore, if you're a shareholder as of December 15, 2017 and you'd like to attend the meeting, you will need to register in advance."

"Once our proxy statement is filed, the bank, broker, or other organization that holds your Apple shares will be issuing proxy materials to you that will include a unique control number. You'll need that number to register for the meeting at proxyvote.com beginning at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 22, 2018, and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. To ensure you receive your proxy materials in a timely way, please make sure that your contact information is current at the organization that holds your shares."

Here's what shareholders will when they visit Steve Jobs Theater: