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The cover of Apple

Apple

David Pogue, 2026

A history of Apple's first fifty years, based on 150 interviews, from two Steves selling circuit boards through near collapse and Jobs's return to a company worth trillions.

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12 parts, about 40 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Tells the whole company story, from selling circuit boards to global giant, as several different Apples under one name
  • Corrects familiar myths about the garage, the Xerox visit and who was fired, so you can tell legend from record
  • Built on interviews with a long list of insiders, focused on origin stories rather than credit claiming or score settling

Who it is for

  • Apple fans who think they know the story
  • Founders studying how a company nearly dies and recovers
  • Designers curious how products like the iPhone took shape

What the summary covers

  1. Many companies, all called Apple2 min
  2. The two Steves4 min
  3. The Apple II3 min
  4. The Xerox legend and the Lisa3 min
  5. The Macintosh3 min
  6. How Jobs lost his company3 min
  7. The years without Jobs6 min
  8. The turnaround4 min
  9. Stores and the iPod3 min
  10. The iPhone4 min
  11. Tim Cook's Apple3 min
  12. The next fifty years2 min

Recommended by

  • Guy KawasakiFormer Apple Chief Evangelist
    Everybody who uses an Apple product, and cares about Apple, you absolutely should read this definitive history of Apple. You gotta read this book.
  • Ken SegallWriter of the Think Different ad
    In his hands, Apple's 50-year journey can be enjoyed by the casual observer as well as those who have followed the company for decades.

About the author

  • David PogueCBS News Sunday Morning correspondent and former New York Times personal tech columnist
    • Born 9 March 1963 in Shaker Heights, Ohio; graduated from Yale summa cum laude with a music degree in 1985
    • Won a 2010 Gerald Loeb Award for Online Commentary and Blogging

Read it alongside

  • Goes deeperApple in China

    David Pogue notes that Apple's heavy manufacturing in China brings low costs and speed but few options; Patrick McGee argues Apple went there for what was possible and thereby bound its future to China's authoritarian state.

  • Goes deeperBreakneck

    David Pogue reports that Apple's Chinese manufacturing brought low costs, speed and quality but few options if something goes wrong. Dan Wang explains why: technology lives in practiced people and nearby supplier networks, and blueprints alone cannot preserve it, as the Fogbank case showed.

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