I would even call it a fitting tribute to Steve Job's legacy in pictures. The book is published by Hatje Cantz in conjunction with the Museum Fuer Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany. It's a beautiful designed book, from it's sleeve to the inside pages. The page layout represents understated elegance with lot's of white space and room for content and product images to breath.
It's not just a simple Apple picture book.
The FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK provides essays on design and dives into the history of Apple, via the following chapters
1) Making the Difference: Foreword
2) Stylectrical: On Electro-Design that Makes History - A Tour (provides a product legacy chart from 1998 to 2010)
3) Think Different! - Users and Their Darlings: On Apples, Machinesl, Interfaces Magic and the Power of Design
4) Strategic Design: How The New Eclipses the Old - Fundamental Principles of Product Design at Apple
5) The Apple Desiing Lie - Why The Design of Apple is Neither Good nor Minimalist. A Pamphlet
6) Kronberg Meets Cupertino - What Braun and Apple Really Have In Common
7) Full Metal Jacket - On the Material Of Apple Design
8) "All New Design" - The Secret of a Magical Corporate Success
9) Gardens of Earthly Delights
10) List of Works
The SECOND HALF OF THE BOOK is called "Designed For Apple by Jonathan Ive - 1997-2011". It starts with a product overview sorted by year and then images of each product, giving it ample space, often using the spread (2 pages) for a beautiful roomy and calm layout and presentation.
However not all the models in a series are represented. For example,
-> 2003 | PowerBook G4 Aluminium
Figure shows Apple, 9/2003, PowerBook G4 Aluminium, 15-inch
<-- Product shot -->
Further models in the series:
Apple, 1/2003, PowerBook G4 Aluminium, 17-inch, 12-inch
Apple, 1/2006, MacBook Pro, 15-inch
Apple, 4/2006, MacBook Pro, 17-inch
The book continues later with: -> 2008 MacBook Pro.
This book provides perspective and information of Apple's history and designs, explains the evolution of Apple's stores, draws parallels to the industrial design development, and much more. In addition, it features a beautiful layout and Apple product images from 1997-2011. If you are a design student it deserves a place on your book shelf, if you are an Apple fan it deserves a place on your coffee table.
For more information on Steve Jobs and his amazing work and life, read his biography by Walter Isaacson.