50 Apple books for 50 years

1976-2026

Apple was founded almost 50 years ago, on April 1st, 1976. I’ve been around long enough to remember when we got excited at Apple about any public mention, like a magazine article or a TV news program. A whole book about Apple? Wow! Well, to celebrate Apple’s 50th, here’s a list of 50 books about Apple, in order of publication. There are many, many more in the world, but I decided to stop at 50. My favorites are in bold.

For many years, I read each Apple book as it came out. Several were into exposing the “real truth” behind the company’s success. The early “history of Apple” books are amazing because they are made up of hundreds of pages of dense history that’s mostly pre-Macintosh and mostly forgotten now. There have been several executive biographies and autobiographies. Many books about Steve Jobs, of course. I’ve still read most of the major Apple books. But I stopped buying every one and discovered the joy of my local public library.

There are 5 books on this list with History in the title, 4 with Simple or Simplicity, and 3 with Insanely Great. According to the titles, Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, and Tim Cook are geniuses, and Woz is a cult icon.

Here’s the list, with many comments by me. If I didn’t comment on a book, it means I haven’t read it, don’t remember it well enough to comment, or have nothing to say. I would love to read or re-read all of them, but come on, I’m not made of hours.

Mostly I like the old books, because I myself am old.

1. The Little Kingdom (1984) — Michael Moritz
   Andy Hertzfeld tells the story of this book’s origin.

2. How To Write Macintosh Software (1985) — Scott Knaster
   This book supported and sustained my career, because people who liked it kept hiring me. Thanks, book.

3. Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple (1987) — John Sculley
   Free copies with mechanically-signed bookplates were distributed to every Apple employee when it was published.

4. So Far: The First Ten Years of a Vision (1987) — Apple Computer
   This book was also given free to all Apple employees. I don’t think it was ever sold to the public. The endpapers of the book contain the name of every Apple employee ever, in alphabetical order:

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5. The Journey is the Reward (1987) — Jeffrey S. Young
   An early history. A lot of things, now largely forgotten, happened at Apple before 1987! And Apple was much more open about letting this info out into the world. There are several of these early books featuring incredible behind-the-scenes detail about strategies and conversations to a degree that would become unthinkable in later years as Apple locked itself down.

6. The Third Apple (1987) — Jean-Louis Gassée
   Cleverly titled and written executive memoir. Essential JLG from one of the company’s most creative execs.

7. Accidental Millionaire (1988) — Lee Butcher
   The title refers to Steve Jobs. You can guess the thesis of this book from its title.

8. West of Eden: The End of Innocence at Apple Computer (1989) — Frank Rose
   Another early history of Apple rich with quotes and details.

9. The Macintosh Way (1990) — Guy Kawasaki
   Guy’s manifesto, written upon leaving Apple. Hilarious and insightful. Contains some internal docs, including Guy’s cheeky resignation letter. A must-read.

10. Selling the Dream (1991)— Guy Kawasaki
    Filled with insight and wonderful stories. Includes an incredible document, the original Macintosh Product Introduction Plan, which was of course created on a Mac.

11. The Macintosh Woman (1992) — Scott Kronick
    A novel.

12. Defying Gravity: The Making of Newton (1993) — Markos Kounalakis & Doug Menuez
    Known at rival General Magic as “Denying Reality”.

13. Steve Jobs and the NeXT Big Thing (1993) — Randall E. Stross
    Not really about Apple, but close enough.

14. Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer that Changed Everything (1994) — Steven Levy
    The definitive Mac origin story by a true insider.

15. Apple Design: The Work of the Apple Industrial Design Group (1997) — Paul Kunkel

16. Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders (1997) — Jim Carlton
    Well-written, detailed history of Apple up to the brink of bankruptcy (which was right before Steve came back.)

17. Apple T-Shirts: A Yearbook of History at Apple Computer (1998) — Gordon Thygeson

18. On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple (1998) — Gil Amelio
    What happens when the leader doesn’t fit the team.

19. Infinite Loop (1999) — Michael S. Malone
    More fun now-ancient history stuff.

20. The Second Coming of Steve Jobs (2000) — Alan Deutschman
    This one goes through Steve’s return and the iMac launch.

21. Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World’s Most Colorful Company (2004) — Owen Linzmayer
    Detailed fun fact-filled history.

22. Revolution in the Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made (2004) — Andy Hertzfeld
    Incredibly absorbing. Andy has wonderful storytelling abilities in addition to his universe-class software development talents.

23. The Cult of Mac (2004) — Leander Kahney

24. iCon: Steve Jobs, the Greatest Second Act in the History of Business (2005) — Jeffrey S. Young & William L. Simon
    This book caused Apple to ban all the publisher’s books from Apple stores.

25. iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It (2006) — Steve Wozniak
    An unusual kind of autobiography from an all-time engineering legend.

26. The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness (2006) — Steven Levy
    The iPod was a huge deal for Apple and the world. Steven Levy’s books are always compelling.

27. Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs (2007) — Fake Steve Jobs (Daniel Lyons)
    Unique, funny, and cynical.

28. The Pomme Company (2007) — David Sobotta

29. Return to the Little Kingdom (2009) — Michael Moritz

30. Steve Jobs (2011) — Walter Isaacson
    The authorized biography, written with Steve’s participation. He died as it was nearing completion. Although it was authorized, and Steve cooperated fully, the finished product was essentially disowned by Apple and friends and family.

31. Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success (2012) — Ken Segall

32. Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired—and Secretive—Company Really Works (2012) — Adam Lashinsky

33. Leading Apple with Steve Jobs: Management Lessons From a Controversial Genius (2012) — Jay Elliot
    Memoir of an Apple HR leader.

34. Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products (2013) — Leander Kahney

35. Keep It Simple: The Early Design Years of Apple (2013) — Hartmut Esslinger
    Written by the founder of frog design.

36. The Bite in the Apple: A Memoir of My Life with Steve Jobs (2013) — Chrisann Brennan
    A non-Apple memoir from Steve’s former partner and co-parent.

37. Finding the Next Steve Jobs (2013) — Nolan Bushnell

    From a guy who “found” the last Steve Jobs.

38. Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs (2014) — Yukari Iwatani Kane
    You can guess the general spin from the title.

39. Becoming Steve Jobs (2015) — Brent Schlender & Rick Tetzeli
    The biography recommended by those close to Steve after the Isaacson book was found wanting.

40. Designed by Apple in California (2016) — Jonathan Ive
    Looks interesting. I’ve never seen this book in person. I can’t afford it.

41. The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone (2017) — Brian Merchant
    The complicated story of where the iPhone and its technologies came from.

42. Creative Selection (2018) — Ken Kocienda
    Good inside stuff on how Apple makes things.

43. Small Fry (2018) — Lisa Brennan-Jobs
    The daughter of Steve and Chrisann tells her story. A personal story, not really an Apple book.

44. Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level (2019) — Leander Kahney

45. My Life at Apple: And The Steve I Knew (2022) — John Couch
    Autobiography of an early Apple exec who ought to be better known.

46. After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul (2022) — Tripp Mickle
    Yucky title, but a good modern history of Apple.

47. Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making (2022) — Tony Fadell
    About Apple and much more from the iPod pioneer and founder of Nest.

48. Make Something Wonderful: Words and Visions of Steve Jobs (2023) — Steve Jobs Archive
    Interesting and fun to peruse and hey, it’s free.

49. Grateful Geek: 50 Years of Apple and Other Tech Adventures (2024) — Jean-Louis Gassée
    More Gassée goodness from the 1980s Apple exec.

50. Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company (2024) — Patrick McGee
    Highly original, superbly researched story of how Apple helped build China’s modern manufacturing economy.
    
    And here’s one to grow on for the next 50 years of Apple:

    

51. Apple: The First 50 Years (2026) — David Pogue
    Super detailed. Pogue is on a mission to tell all the great stories and set the record straight on things others have gotten wrong. This book has photos nobody has seen before, including pictures of prototype Apple hardware, and dozens of new interviews with key Apple folks. This is the first book to cover the entire history of Apple, and it will become the definitive source.

    I got an unexpected chance to be adjacent to the greatness of this book when David put out a call for readers. He wanted some folks to look through the manuscript for anything that needed correcting. I raised my hand and I found a few bits to be changed. Reading the book was a pleasure and helping fix things was a true labor of love. A book this important deserves to be correct!

    And if this list isn’t enough to keep you busy, you can find a few hundred more books and magazines here. Happy reading!