Learn more about the history of Apple and the legacy of Steve Jobs in these biographies, which are discounted by up to 65% during Amazon’s Prime Day sales.
We at AppleInsider chiefly deal with the current state of Apple and associated news stories. But it’s always good to look back at the company’s history to get a more rounded view of its activities.
What follows is a selection of biographies, dealing with the company’s history through good times and bad, as well as that of Steve Jobs.
Apple: The First 50 Years
Covering the first half-century of Apple’s existence, this New York Times bestseller tells the life story of Apple, so far. From when it was formed to its near death, the revival by Steve Jobs, and the tenure of Tim Cook.
Apple: The First 50 Years
Written by CBS Sunday Morning correspondent David Pogue, it includes interviews with 150 key people from the journey. That list includes Steve Wozniak, Jony Ive, John Sculley, and many others.
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The tome also busts a number of Apple myths, goes behind the scenes on the company’s major successes, and also its failures. All to determine how Apple will take on the next half century.
Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary
Written by Geoffrey Cain with a foreword from Dan’l Lewin and an afterword by Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs in Exile deals with the twelve-year period when Steve Jobs wasn’t at Apple.
Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary
Drawing from unpublished materials and new interviews, the book explains what happened from 1985 to 1997 in Jobs’ world and his new venture, NeXT. While Apple has been a success, NeXT’s history was littered with failures, near bankruptcy, and according to the author, “brutal humiliation.”
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This testing experience resulted in Jobs becoming the late-career leader, and eventually helped transform Apple by driving to create products like the iPhone and iPad.
Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company
Called “Phenomenal” by the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, Apple in China covers Apple’s struggles to mass produce products, before setting up its manufacturing base in China. However, author Patrick McGee writes that Apple’s decision has led to becoming dependent on the country, and therefore vulnerable.
Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company
The decision also helped China become a technological superpower, thanks to a state-supported electronics industry. A technical influence that the author says can be weaponized and is now a cautionary tale of global trade.
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Along the way, readers will discover the “Gang of Eight” executives who have to appease Beijing, and a veteran who wanted to improve factory conditions but was thwarted by Apple’s demands and a government crackdown.
Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs
Apple is well known for its designs, and the vast amount of work that goes into making them. The Jobs era was also considered its best period when it came to design work, and therefore it is the focus of the book.
Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs
Written by Ken Kocienda, it’s a view behind the scenes from a software engineer who worked in the last years where Jobs was in control. Kocienda spent 15 years on the ground floor as a specialist, experimenting with novel user interfaces and producing software.
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The book discusses the symbiotic relationship between software, hardware, and product development, at the cutting edge of the company’s massively popular products. He shares tales of struggle and success, while also detailing the elements that defined Apple’s design culture.
Steve Jobs
The ultimate examination of the life of Apple’s co-founder and CEO, Steve Jobs is Walter Isaacson’s biography of the creative entrepreneur’s life. It’s a tome that went on to become a film of the same name.
Steve Jobs
The book is based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs himself over two years, along with interviews with over 100 family members, friends, and even adversaries. Jobs also refused to have any control over what was written in the book, and even encouraged interviewees to speak honestly.
Save up to 65% on Steve Jobs book
It’s a book that has Jobs speaking candidly, and sometimes brutally, about people in his life, and others do the same to him. The result is probably the most honest take of Jobs’ life and tenure at Apple that anyone could’ve achieved.
After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul
After Steve is from the New York Times‘ Trip Mickle, and talks about what happened after Apple lost Steve Jobs. This was the period where COO Tim Cook became CEO, and follows both him and the eventual departure of design chief Jony Ive.
After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul
Mickle outlines that Ive was Jobs’ “spiritual partner at Apple,” while Cook was the opposite. Ive pushed more into design following Jobs’ passing as Cook built the company into a behemoth of manufacturing, eventually prompting Ive to depart.
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Based on talks with more than 200 Apple executives and key figures in Apple’s history, Mickle writes that Apple’s success came at a massive loss. That of its innovative spirit and its failure to successfully move into new product categories.
Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader
Written by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, Becoming Steve Jobs discusses how he went from a young man who was “so reckless and arrogant that he was exiled from the company he founded” to a visionary leader.
Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader
The duo aimed to come up with a different story to Jobs’ history, in part due to Schlender’s 25-year history with the man.
Save up to 37% on Becoming Steve Jobs book
Interviews were also conducted with Cook, Ive, Eddy Cue, Ed Catmull, John Lasseter, Robert Iger, and others.
You can also find Prime Day deals on Apple hardware in our deal coverage and Apple Price Guides.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
