Apple: The First 50 Years
4.5 | 41 ratings
Price: 36.21
Last update: 03-20-2026
Product details
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster
- Publication date : March 10, 2026
- Language : English
- Print length : 608 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1982134593
- ISBN-13 : 978-1982134594
- Item Weight : 3.03 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.38 x 1.7 x 9.13 inches
- Best Sellers Rank:#80 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- History of Engineering & Technology
- History of Technology
- Computers & Technology Industry
- Customer Reviews:5.05.0 out of 5 stars(1)
Top reviews from the United States
- PatrickWonderful Account of Apple's Epic 50-Year Journey!“Apple: The First 50 Years,” by David Pogue, is a captivating history of Apple’s remarkable fifty-year journey. The book is divided into four chronological parts, which take readers through the evolution of Apple’s products and services, and the stories of those who created them. We see Apple’s management, creativity and innovation, marketing campaigns, and pursuit of excellence in motion. We also witness the genius of Steve Jobs, without whose passion, vision, and relentless determination Apple would cease to exist.
Part 1 introduces us to Steve Wozniak (“Woz”) and Steve Jobs—from how they met, to their early ventures, to their founding of “Apple Computer Company” on April 1, 1976. We progress through Apple’s early computers, including the Apple II and Macintosh, and explore the development of Apple’s operating system and software. We also experience John Sculley’s power struggle with Jobs, which resulted in Jobs’s demotion and subsequent resignation.
Part 2 covers the years without Steve Jobs, during which multiple Apple CEOs were ousted. Sculley, Pepsi-Cola’s former president, was Apple’s CEO. His eventual removal was due, in part, to his failure to consummate a merger that would lessen the dominance of PCs running Microsoft Windows on Intel chips. Michael Spindler, an engineer already running multiple Apple divisions, took over as CEO. But declining sales and “rock bottom” morale contributed to his removal. Gil Amelio, the CEO of National Semiconductor, became the new CEO. However, consumer sales were not Amelio’s forte. Apple’s mounting financial difficulties elevated its bankruptcy risk and Amelio was fired.
Part 3 centers on Steve Jobs’s return to Apple. After leaving Apple, Jobs founded NeXT, which had developed a dazzling, colorful, and easy-to-use multitasking operating system called NeXTSTEP. Unlike Apple’s Mac OS, which kept crashing, NeXTSTEP was highly stable. So, while Amelio was still CEO, Apple bought NeXT and Jobs returned to Apple in an advisory role. Within a few months of Amelio’s firing, Jobs became Apple’s interim CEO and later its permanent CEO. After returning to Apple, we see Jobs’s genius on full display. We witness the game-changing creation of the iPod, iPhone, iPad, apps, and more, all of which led to Apple’s incredible turnaround. Sadly, we also discover Jobs’s battle with pancreatic cancer, which led to his untimely death.
Part 4 addresses Tim Cook’s tenure as Apple’s CEO. Before Jobs died, he resigned as Apple’s CEO. Cook, who was Apple’s COO, assumed the CEO role. We are taken through several successes under Cook’s leadership, including the dramatic growth in Apple Services (e.g., Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+) and the introduction of Apple Watch and Apple Silicon. We also learn about Vision Pro and Apple Intelligence, which are not yet as successful, and about headwinds over app store charges and Apple’s reliance on China.
“Apple: The First 50 Years” is a comprehensive and compelling account of Apple’s first fifty years. The award-winning author skillfully takes readers through Apple’s history, products and services, stories of key employees, and iconic culture. Apple fans, technology and history buffs, and countless others will greatly enjoy the author’s well-written account of Apple’s epic journey. The book also contains numerous photos and images that help bring Apple’s story to life.
[My special thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advance reading copy of this book.]