Buy new:
-43% $17.00
FREE delivery Thursday, May 23 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon
Sold by: Cha Book
$17.00 with 43 percent savings
List Price: $29.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Thursday, May 23 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 22. Order within 15 hrs 44 mins
In Stock
$$17.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$17.00
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon
Ships from
Amazon
Sold by
Sold by
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$15.95
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Book is in good condition and may include underlining highlighting and minimal wear. The book can also include "From the library of" labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys, dvds, etc. . We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service. Free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime! Book is in good condition and may include underlining highlighting and minimal wear. The book can also include "From the library of" labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys, dvds, etc. . We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service. Free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime! See less
FREE delivery Thursday, May 23 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Wednesday, May 22. Order within 15 hrs 44 mins
Only 2 left in stock - order soon.
$$17.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$17.00
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul Hardcover – May 3, 2022

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 894 ratings

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$17.00","priceAmount":17.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"17","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"JRA7cGuuMznBaFTprFY%2BIY%2FbkEq%2Bi5TsvKus4KCgcDheCwgQq2jdtFvXTVK9lC0Cd9rr5mDAv4KWl2%2FWnwkL0mPsyUQXTdZfwNPvk4SNl3X9V3%2F6XgINyIj3dW2vGLrVD57DHA7YNnHn1pO99FdeFM%2B6dAo6mr3g1GoRTsHSFCiBhaJ4XOSLlz8o4YP9Qr9q","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$15.95","priceAmount":15.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"15","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"JRA7cGuuMznBaFTprFY%2BIY%2FbkEq%2Bi5TsLrfSJ2br5DJIhtbK8L1SMCiwmb3sp7xfoOBfzhWPzx9sPQxNZwy3jV4m7MhvjR5IrDADK61tfkGdKfDIG%2BpwHDdlZJbJnzHP2FLX3hegoXiw32s%2FhRJ1IKCUj1%2F0BHhCse5Njl4yYTFiYj%2BNxZghxDEJMxWwNSbJ","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

From the New York Times' Tripp Mickle, the dramatic, untold story inside Apple after the passing of Steve Jobs by following his top lieutenants—Jony Ive, the Chief Design Officer, and Tim Cook, the COO-turned-CEO—and how the fading of the former and the rise of the latter led to Apple losing its soul.

Steve Jobs called Jony Ive his “spiritual partner at Apple.” The London-born genius was the second-most powerful person at Apple and the creative force who most embodies Jobs’s spirit, the man who designed the products adopted by hundreds of millions the world over: the iPod, iPad, MacBook Air, the iMac G3, and the iPhone. In the wake of his close collaborator’s death, the chief designer wrestled with grief and initially threw himself into his work designing the new Apple headquarters and the Watch before losing his motivation in a company increasingly devoted more to margins than to inspiration.

In many ways, Cook was Ive’s opposite. The product of a small Alabama town, he had risen through the ranks from the supply side of the company. His gift was not the creation of new products. Instead, he had invented countless ways to maximize a margin, squeezing some suppliers, persuading others to build factories the size of cities to churn out more units. He considered inventory evil. He knew how to make subordinates sweat with withering questions.

Jobs selected Cook as his successor, and Cook oversaw a period of tremendous revenue growth that has lifted Apple’s valuation to $2 trillion. He built a commanding business in China and rapidly distinguished himself as a master politician who could forge global alliances and send the world’s stock market into freefall with a single sentence.

Author Tripp Mickle spoke with more than 200 current and former Apple executives, as well as figures key to this period of Apple’s history, including Trump administration officials and fashion luminaries such as Anna Wintour while writing After Steve. His research shows the company’s success came at a cost. Apple lost its innovative spirit and has not designed a new category of device in years. Ive’s departure in 2019 marked a culmination in Apple’s shift from a company of innovation to one of operational excellence, and the price is a company that has lost its soul.

Read more Read less

Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Frequently bought together

$17.00
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 23
In Stock
Sold by Cha Book and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
$17.10
Get it as soon as Friday, May 24
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by Chris' bargain books and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
$12.79
Get it as soon as Friday, May 24
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Choose items to buy together.
Popular Highlights in this book

Editorial Reviews

Review

“An engrossing narrative that’s impressively reported—a true journalistic achievement in light of Apple’s culture of secrecy—After Steve takes readers deep inside the monolithic company.” — Washington Post

“Mickle builds a dense, granular mosaic of the firm’s trials and triumphs, showing us how Apple, built on Ive’s successes in the 2000s, became Cook’s company in the 2010s. The book is an amazingly detailed portrait of the permanent tension between strategy and luck: Companies make their own history, but they do not make it as they please.” — New York Times

“Mickle’s reporting is tremendous: He documents the life stories of both men and goes super deep on how they carried on at Apple post-Steve.”
Wired

“A dynamic, eye-opening debut… Tech enthusiasts will find this meticulously researched report great fodder for debate on the future of Apple as a tech leader. A focused, perceptive assessment of the evolution of Apple’s alchemy.” — Kirkus Reviews

"[An]insightful debut, an unsparing take on the company’s post–Steve Jobs era.…There has been plenty written about Jobs and Apple; this sets itself apart with its shrewd look at how and why the company’s culture shifted. Apple devotees and skeptics alike will find much to consider." — Publishers Weekly

“Mickle penetrates the veil of secrecy shrouding one of the great dramas of modern business history: how Apple not only survived but thrived after the death of its brilliant, charismatic founder—and at what personal cost to his successors, Tim Cook and Jony Ive. After Steve is both a feat of reporting on what may be the most secretive company in the world and a gripping narrative that brings readers inside the “Spaceship,” Apple’s futuristic headquarters.” — James B. Stewart, author of New York Times bestsellers Den of Thieves, Blood Sport, and DisneyWar

“Pulls off the rare feat of illuminating Apple's spiritual misdirections through the life and times of Jony Ive before and after Steve Jobs's death. This extraordinary book has a lot of heart, but also lessons on how a visionary company can lose its soul in search of even greater profits." — Bradley Hope, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Billion Dollar Whale

“Mickle pierced Apple's culture of omerta' to deliver an intimate portrait of how Steve Jobs's top disciples -- Tim Cook, the inscrutable operator, and Jony Ive, the passionate artist -- grappled with the loss of their master and their own differences to bring his creation to unprecedented success.” — Sara Gay Forden, author of House of Gucci and editor at Bloomberg News, leading tech policy coverage

“It is just over a decade since Steve Jobs died but it seems like a century for Apple. Mickle's reportorial rigor breathes life into the dramas, personalities and events that shaped the era.”
Michael Moritz, partner at Sequoia Capital and author of The Little Kingdom

“A fascinating look at Apple in the post-Jobs era. Mickle highlights the link between professional dynamics and personal relationships and how large-cap companies need different skills as they scale. A master class in how creatives and operators work together to build value.”
Scott Galloway, best-selling author of The Four and Post Corona

“Mickle brings to life how Steve Jobs's successor, Tim Cook, for all his seemingly robotic demeanor, confronts a great many challenges that evaded Apple's founder -- including an increasingly hostile U.S.-China relationship. He examines in unprecedented detail the struggle faced by Cook in meeting competing demands from the two superpowers, and illuminates an issue that will come to define both the business and political world for many years to come.” — Lingling Wei, author of Superpower Showdown

“A thrilling account of the characters, intrigues, and decisions that drove Apple to become the world’s most valuable corporation. After Steve is sure to become the definitive account of the post-Jobs era at Apple.” — Bhu Srinivasan, author of Americana, Named a Best Book of 2017 by The Economist

About the Author

Tripp Mickle is a technology reporter for The New York Times covering Apple. He previously covered the company for the Wall Street Journal, where he also wrote about Google and other Silicon Valley giants. He has appeared on CNBC and NPR, and previously worked as a sportswriter. He lives with his wife and German shorthaired pointer in San Francisco. 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow (May 3, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063009811
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063009813
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.49 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 894 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Tripp Mickle
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Tripp Mickle is a technology reporter for The New York Times covering Apple. He previously covered the company for the Wall Street Journal, where he also wrote about Google and other Silicon Valley giants. He has appeared on CNBC and NPR, and previously worked as a sportswriter. He lives with his wife and German shorthaired pointer in San Francisco.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
894 global ratings
Meet The People Behind An Evolving Company
5 Stars
Meet The People Behind An Evolving Company
Much about Apple founder Steve Jobs has been written and committed to Silicon Valley lore. Still, sufficient time has passed since Job's death that New York Times technology reporter Tripp Mickle could look at life at Apple without their charismatic head. "After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul" shows us how the company has changed.While much of the Apple story is about Jobs, this book shares information about those who worked behind the scenes with Jobs after his death, including Jony Ive, Tony Fadell, Scott Forstall, and others.Ivy was seen as a design expert and close confident of its leader. Many saw him as the heir apparent, but "numbers guy" Tim Cook took over. Ivy no longer had the same influence, but his attention to design detail kept him as a top deputy to Cook.Over the last 12 years, Cook has grown Apple's market capitalization by $1.5 trillion. While the iPhone still represents 60% of Apple's revenue, Ivy and other key players have left the company saying the creative spirit is gone.Jobs feared the challenges that would face Apple. He had studied what had happened at the Walt Disney Company and how it had been paralyzed after its cofounder Walt Disney had died. Everyone had asked: What would Walt do? What decision would he make? "Never do that," Jobs said. "Just do what's right," he told Cook.The selection surprised some outsiders because—as Jobs told his biographer, Walter Isaacson—Cook wasn't a "product person." But insiders understood the choice. Cook ran a division devoid of drama and focused on collaboration. Apple needed a new operating style after losing someone irreplaceable.Cook has never been the kind of product guys like Jobs and Ivy. But in addition to building revenue, he has become comfortable in a more public role. He was called before Congress over taxes. He had to apologize for the poor performance of Apple Maps.The strength of "After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul" is that it shows the many people who contributed to the company's success. It might overreach in its judgment that the company 'lost its soul' simply because it grew up from what Jobs' created and now had obligations that extended from its customers to its shareholders.
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2022
If you consider yourself a true, lifelong Apple fanboy, you will want to read this book.

You still trawl your favourite Apple rumour websites, more out of habit than excitement and anticipation. You are still upgrading your iPhone regularly , albeit with longer intervals between phones, but the pleasure you once derived from the new shiny thing is long gone. And yes, you probably know enough about Ives and Cook and can guess the gist of what this book will be about. Yet, you will want to read it like I did.

I read this book because it is the last connecting dot to the old Apple that I love. This is the last connecting shred of history to Steve Jobs. Did I learn anything particularly new? Not really. Was the book entertaining? It sure was. The history and upbringing of the two gentlemen is interesting, providing the context to who they became and why they are what they are. The excesses of a successful Apple post iPhone juxtaposes against my memory of Apple the pauper with cup in hand to Microsoft on Steve Job’s return in 1997.

The predictable end of this chalk and cheese partnership that is Ives and Cook is as delectable as the next iteration of iPhone. Even so, I could not put the book down. Inaccuracies? Maybe, but I felt I was being entertained more than being educated. At the end of this enjoyable read, you are brought back to the sad reality that all true Apple fanboys dread- the protagonist of the “1984” Macintosh commercial has become the antagonist. Cool has given way to cold. We awake from the dream that was Apple and wonder if we might be better off these days buying Apple’s stock instead of its products.

Still, shelling out $15.99 to reminisce is chump change. I doubt we will want to read about the future generation of Apple leaders. This is probably the last book any true Apple fanboy will want to read.
19 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2024
Apple, 'after Steve' Jobs' untimely death was, on one hand, in the early stages of the huge growth engine of the emergent iPhone empire. It was also emotionally bereft on the death of their signal charismatic founder. The potential of a strategic management vacuum (and the likely infighting that such a black hole generates) was immense. Both Tim Cook, the ruthlessly efficiency-focused ops guy (and CEO) and Jony Ive, the designer shaman that represented the Think Different zeitgeist of Apple, had to deal with both the ghost of the Jobs legend, and the inheritance of his mantle. That they did so without melting down the company is to their credit.

But as this book shows, both Cook and Ives have both individual flaws and blind spots, and that they never effectively team up to truly create a left/right brain directional synergy for Apple - especially as the company gathers global scale and influence. They are great in their own lanes - but somehow can't chart new directions. While the author doesn't really come down hard in judgment of either Cook or Ive's, this is no encomium. I felt he exposed a number of their warts, poorly executed decisions (or non-decisions) and missed opportunities to could lead Apple to even greater things.

And for all their successes and personal efforts, they both become trapped in sphere's of their own creation. Cook's service revenue push never really gets the Silicon Valley street-respect it deserves (given the $$ scale), and Ive's magnum opus, the Apple Watch, nearly stalled at the gate and still seems like a peripheral part of the Apple ecosystem looking for a raison d'être (especially given the recent patent infringement woes). Yet billions were spent on everything from less than productive tech acquisitions to outrageously self indulgent marketing stunts (the $25M tent for a one time event?!?) and sycophantic ego bloated consultants. I wish the book went into even greater depth of Apple's business in China, both in creating manufacturing mega partnerships as well as building an heroic installed base of users - certainly essential drivers to their current success.

This book, clearly using a wide range of both official, published, and anonymous sources, has a lot of detail, with a particular focus on Ive and Cook. While discussed, both the engineering leadership and sales/marketing factions seem more like bit players to the unfolding drama. And the Board of Directors seems so anesthetized on financial success, it's blind to the need for guiding the company to the next level of managerial emotional intelligence. (Admittedly, easy to say in hindsight).

Cook becomes increasingly secure as Apple's financial success grows exponitionally. And Ive seems to loose the plot, becomingly more-and-more precious and distracted, spending vast sums to find "design perfection" totally outside the bounds of any real customer demand or requirement - with the new Apple HQ serving as the pharaonic vanity project of the Age (especially post Covid). And it's increasingly clear that Apple's current iPhone driven financial dependency makes it exceedingly difficult for any new "innovation project" to measure up to either the iPhones' reputation or financial success.

Yet for all the build up in the book, the Gotterdammerung moment between Cook and Ive never really happens. Ultimately, Ive drifts away (with millions in his pockets) - and...the Appleworld doesn't really fall apart. Under Cook, Apple's stock keeps peaking, but its new product horizon seems more incremental improvement focused than ever. Cooks management team is increasingly populated by MiniMe's focused on building efficiency and limiting risk, something that plays well on Wall Street....but ultimately stalls growth potential. Can Apple gain fresh momentum, either as a consumer product category-inventor or stock market dynamo is anyone's guess. (The author is coy, perhaps not wanting to burn future access to the company?)

I found this book interesting and compelling (read over 3 day period), but I wonder who the intended audience really is. The Apple fan(person) or tech head, will find lots of the parenthetic explanations around some certainly fairly public dramas redundant. Yet the general business reader may find the level of detail becomes too inside baseball in tendentious who-did-what-when detail that doesn't really move the thesis forward.

Nor does the book really delivery on its "Apple lost its soul" promise. My main take away was that because the iPhone marketshare and revenue expanded so exponentially, so quickly, it was almost nigh impossible for any new product to live up to the billing of the "next big thing". Apple's story spans from the time when PC's sales were measured in their thousands of units to the current billions of iPhone and App and music downloads of today. Hard not to see this is the story of a company at its apogee, huge, rich, but potentially hugely susceptible to an external disruptor.
One person found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2022
Think for a second about how much Apple products are intimately woven into our lives. Remember that this is because of the genius of a select few. What Tripp Mickle does so well in this extraordinary book is explain in great detail where that genius springs from, how these elite few work in either collaboration or cross purposes, and in the end, how it all trickles down to impact us with our iPhones, iPads, iPods, Apple watches and EarPods all within reach. The depth of Mickle’s reporting about a notoriously secretive company is what makes his story so credible. And his graceful, fluid writing style is what makes it so readable. This book — which manages to make manufacturing and logistics compelling — will appeal to a broad cross section of people, from business types to techies to those eager to understand the people and post-Steve innovations behind this iconic, imperfect company.
One person found this helpful
Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Gabriel
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in Brazil on December 26, 2023
I’m amazed at how Apple has changed since Steve Jobs’ death.
Customer image
Gabriel
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in Brazil on December 26, 2023
I’m amazed at how Apple has changed since Steve Jobs’ death.
Images in this review
Customer image Customer image
Customer imageCustomer image
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An insightful read
Reviewed in Canada on October 15, 2022
This is an insightful and informative book about a mysterious company and those who defined it. Although dry at times, it keeps your attention with the interplay of the main actors in this industrial drama.

It is well worth the read. Time well spent.
Johnsonfire
4.0 out of 5 stars Sehr detailliert, aber ein bisschen zu selbstverliebt
Reviewed in Germany on August 3, 2023
Wer Amerikanische Tech-Webseiten und Magazine wie The Verge oder Wired liest weiß was er hier bekommt - das komplette Buch ist ein langer, gestreckter aber durchaus typischer Magazinbeitrag. Wer von Apple und Design erzählt bekommen will ist genau richtig.

Die für das Buch gewählte Erzählebene ist magazin-typisch launisch und detailverliebt, mit verschwimmenden Grenzen was der Autor wirklich glaubt und was er mutmaßt, aber durchaus gut recherchiert und mit viel Herzblut präsentiert. Tim Cook und Jony Ive erhalten ein Portrait wie es ausführlicher nicht sein könnte.

Dem reißerischen Titel von Seelenverlust kommt das Buch allerdings nicht nahe. Zu sehr ist man doch beeindruckt, von Steve Jobs Einfluss, von Ive's unglaublicher Detailversessenheit und von Cook. Das Buch versucht immer wieder zu kritisieren, zu reflektieren, aber es ist ein Antäuschen, Kritik als Alibi. Man endet auf Ive in einem nahezu mystischen Raum, gebadet in Licht. Distanz ist dann nicht mehr möglich.
Cliente Amazon
3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre, impostazione del testo molto romanzata.
Reviewed in Italy on June 18, 2023
È ovvio che è frutto di una ricerca concreta e studiata durata per molto tempo, ma... aldilà della caratterizzazione del libro su come Apple abbia perso "l'anima" su cui ci si può dibattere, l'impostazione del testo è del tutto sbagliata, raffigura tutti i fatti raccontati in una maniera talmente romanzata che immediatamente fa suscitare dei dubbi su quanto le situazioni siano descritte in modo fattuale e pertinente alla realtà o enfatizzate all'estremo per vizio di scrittura.
Molte volte capita di leggere tratti dove è presente una singola persona ed essa esegue un gesto o succede una cosa che solo la suddetta persona (che non è presente tra le fonti) potrebbe sapere. Mi sembra di ricordare un Jony Ive in un parco da solo con una scarpa slacciata.
In ogni caso considero il libro come una fonte di fatti attendibile solo se si prende l'idea generale degli eventi che descrive come buona, senza l'animosità costruita attorno dall'autore.
pawanbhalla
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, great quality
Reviewed in India on April 16, 2023
The book is an intriguing tale of how Apple has turned out since Jobs went away. Coming to the book itself, the quality of print and pages is great.
Customer image
pawanbhalla
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, great quality
Reviewed in India on April 16, 2023
The book is an intriguing tale of how Apple has turned out since Jobs went away. Coming to the book itself, the quality of print and pages is great.
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image