Designed by Apple

Tidbits on discontinued book 'Designed by Apple in California'

Back in 2016, Apple surprisingly released a physical book called Designed by Apple in California, which had many photos of Apple products created by Jony Ive. In 2019, Ive left the company, and Apple stopped selling the book after that. Although it was quite expensive, the book was certainly one of the most different products Apple has ever released – and I’m glad I was able to buy one.

When the book Designed by Apple in California was released, the company also shared a video narrated by Jony Ive in which the former Apple design chief explains what motivated the creation of the book. According to Ive, the book captures amazing transitions and shocking changes through the decades with photos of products and how some of them are made.

Designed by Apple in California was available in two different sizes, but with exactly the same content. It was priced at $199/$299 depending on the size, which resulted in a lot of jokes about how Apple could even make a book that costs so much.

And although virtually the entire book is made up of pictures, there’s a short introduction written by Jony Ive. There, Ive details that the book is a “representation of our work.” Designed by Apple in California starts with the 1998 iMac G3 (one of Apple’s most iconic products) and goes all the way to the Apple Pencil, which was introduced in 2015.

Unfortunately, not every product was included in the book. Ive says that the decision to “stop somewhere” or not to include a specific work was “fantastically hard.”

What’s so special about this book?

Although the main purpose of the book is to show the history of Apple products through images, Designed by Apple in California also shows pictures of tools and machines used in the product development process.

Some of these images have never been seen before, and others are just nice to look at – like a photo that shows the machine used to make the polished chamfered edges of the iPhone 5.

But even the regular images are amazing to look at, as you can clearly notice that Apple has used high-quality printing standards that make the colors pop and shine.

There’s also a really intriguing photo of a completely scratched and dented first generation iPhone. Jony Ive revealed in 2016 that it belongs to Evans Hankey, now Apple’sVP of industrial design at Apple:

That’s Evans Hankey’s iPhone, who manages the design studio. Isn’t it cool? She destroys her objects. But I thought there was something so charming about that. I thought it was lovely to put that in. We design tools to be used. And she definitely uses them!

By the way, the book has a silly error as it lists the first generation iPad as a 2009 product, when it was introduced in 2010.

Will there be a second version of this book?

Designed by Apple in California was clearly a tribute not only to Steve Jobs, but to Jony Ive. When the book was introduced in 2016, its purpose was unclear. However, after Ive left Apple, the book made more sense than ever. It was a way to honor Ive’s decades of work at Apple, which resulted in iconic products that we’ll never forget.

I don’t think Apple will ever release a second version of this book, but I’d definitely love to see a new edition a few decades from now showing how things have evolved since 2015.

What about you? Were you able to buy a copy of Designed by Apple in California? Would you like to see a new edition in the future? Let us know in the comments section below.

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