Walter Isaacson’s brilliant biography of Steve Jobs is one of the most compelling accounts of a driven man I’ve come across. At Apple, Jobs was totally focussed on producing innovative products of superb quality. He wasn’t too worried about how his abrasive nature impacted those he worked with, he just wanted everything to be done ‘right’ and had zero tolerance for anything less. So what would happen to Apple once its driving force had passed? Well, this book tells the story.

The book is really the tale of two men who were to lead the company going forward. Jony Ive had been the Chief Design Officer during the period Jobs introduced the iPod, iPhone and iPad. He and Steve had formed a close partnership, with Jobs dropping in on Ive and his team just about every day. The second figure is, of course, Tim Cook who took over as CEO of the company following the death of Jobs. Cook had formerly been the company’s Chief Operating Officer. If Jobs was authoritarian and a galvanizing force for the company then Cook was democratic in his approach and more focussed on the numbers than the minute details of the products. They were, in fact, chalk and cheese.

This book walks us through Steve’s time at Apple (a scene setter) before focussing thereafter on Ive and Cook. We learn a good deal about what shaped these men and what drove them on, or made them tick. They were very different people: Ive the aesthete and Cook the operations man, forever with his eye on the financial spreadsheet. The chemistry between the two never came close to that established between Ive and Jobs. Eventually Jony became burnt out and, craving more autonomy, left to set up a business of his own. The book points out that despite Cook’s very different style and focus (he eventually turned more towards generating income from services more so than new products) the company's income continued to grow under his leadership.

It’s all told as a story, based on hundreds of interviews with an army of unnamed colleagues, friends and acquaintances of key players. In fact, this is just the way I like to imbibe this sort of information, I loved it and found the whole book to be hugely informative and yet still entertaining, in equal measure. Highly recommended.

This non-fiction book is predominantly set from the death of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, with some reflections prior to this to give context to the people and places within the book.

I was intrigued to read this, as I will admit I wasn't sure what had been happening at Apple since Jobs death. I found the book extremely interesting - the details and the information in it is truly fascinating - and I was hooked, enjoying reading this as much as I could. There's a lot of information to take in, but that is something that I would have wanted from a book like this. The chronological order of the events are done well, and the information from insiders at Apple is fascinating.

If you enjoyed the Walter Isaacson biography on Jobs, I think this will be the book for you. As someone who had Apple products, then strayed away from the brand (and has come back to having Apple), it's interesting to hear the behind the scenes of what was happening around that time.

As a user of Apple products and someone who enjoys business books, I was looking forward to reading this. It’s exhaustively researched and to be honest I found repetitive at times, although I enjoyed the narrative style. I think it could have been a bit snappier as a book, but there’s loads in here for those interested in the relationships between Jobs, Cook and Ive.

Absolutely fascinating book. As I work in the mobile phone industry, I thought I knew quite a lot about Apple but I was wrong I knew nothing.

It took me ages to read as I kept stopping to discuss things with my colleagues, look things up, line what did the Apple Mac look like etc

I worked the Launch for the first ever iPhone and it was amazing to read how that came about.

If you want to know more about what goes on behind the scenes at the largest tech companies, you should read this book. It is not boring or really techie. I would definitely recommend this book

As an apple employee, I found it quite interesting to know about the decision making process and how the company shifted after the loss of Jobs. I did find the statistics and political aspect a little tiresome but I enjoyed learning about the research and development side of things and the focus on Ive’s creative input into the company

This book is well-researched and highly detailed. It is also very readable. It is strongest on the late-Jobs and immediate post-Jobs periods and less strong on more recent times. It is a little repetitive. There is too much Jobs/Jony Ive idolatry for my personal taste. However anyone who wants to know how Apple survived and thrived post-Jobs to become one of the world's most iconic companies will enjoy this book.

Navigating the tensions and shifting priorities within Apple as it adapts to a future without its co-founder.

A detailed account, repetitive in parts, but an interesting book that will be interesting to fans of Apple as well as those interested in the inner business workings of large companies as they continually adjust to stay relevant in a changing world.

A thoroughly researched and informative read. Things that I never knew about Apple both amazed and shocked me. This book is likely to alter your opinion about how you currently view Apple.