The engineer behind the iPhone’s operating system worried that strapping a miniature computer to people’s wrists would distract them from everyday life. Ive bristled at the criticism.įorstall was also no fan of the original idea for Apple Watch, Jony’s first product idea after the death of Steve Jobs, according to Mickle:
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He blasted the flawed design in conversations with Jobs and complained that it had been hidden from his software team. Ive had wanted a slimmer, lighter iPhone, which he been achieved by wrapping its metal antenna around the edges of the device. After his team found no coding issue, Forstall discovered that the problem was occurring because of the phone’s design. He feared that the problem was software related and called on staff, figure out what was wrong. A prototype issued to Forstall repeatedly dropped calls while he was on the phone. In 2010, Apple was in the final stages of producing the iPhone 4. The most probleratic clash occurred with Ive. Mickle also sprinkles in new reporting around both key points in the timeline and trivial moments throughout that the narrative keeps your attention without feeling entirely retold.įor example, Mickle writes iPhone software chief Scott Forstall was “apoplectic” when he determined that it was hardware and not software that caused a prototype iPhone 4 to drop calls before “Antennagate” became a public fiasco: Still, newcomers will appreciate the completion provided by details about Ive’s early interactions with Steve Jobs and Tim Cook’s affinity for Auburn college football. Reading about the early days of Jony Ive’s time at Apple or the few details we know about Tim Cook’s early life can feel repetitious for anyone already versed in these characters. It’s also difficult to write a book about Apple today without necessarily including some already well-covered ground for context. The question of what will happen to Apple after the death of Steve Jobs worries a lot fewer people now than it did in 2011. The challenge for After Steve is making the subject matter interesting enough to revisit so soon (although the passage of time will alleviate this burden). The narrative also tracks Tim Cook’s tenure as CEO during which the company exploded in value despite a stubborn worry at the start that Apple could be doomed without the leadership of Steve Jobs. New details around Scott Forstall’s last year at Apple, the origin of the Apple Watch, and telling moments during the early development of the fabled Apple Car project complement the narrative enough to keep the attention of the most tuned-in Apple observers.Īfter Steve revisits much of the last decade at Apple, mostly spanning 2011 to 2019, from the period when co-founder Steve Jobs resigned as CEO to the moment design chief Jony Ive formally left the company. Its pages split the reader’s time between tracking the origin and careers of Apple’s top two decision makers of the last several years, Tim Cook and Jony Ive, including much of what has already been documented publicly. 9to5Mac received an advanced copy for review. After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul, the new book by WSJ turned NYT technology reporter Tripp Mickle, and is out today.