On Tuesday, Apple released something unique: not a phone or a laptop or wireless earbuds, but a coffee table book. Designed by Apple in California features exquisite photographs of iconic Apple products, beginning with the iMac in 1998 and culminating with the Apple Pencil. In true Apple fashion the book comes in two sizes: a 10.20 x 12.75-inch copy for $199 and a 13 x 16.25-inch copy for $299. Predictably, I chose the the coffee table book Pro edition.
The Verge bought the “small” version of the book which arrived in the office yesterday afternoon, and I realized that Apple may have been slightly disingenuous with their description: the “small” is pretty damn big and weighs a figurative ton. I could probably have saved myself the extra $100 and reduced the potential for injury to my lower back.
Nevertheless, I am so glad I ordered this book; it is a thing of great beauty. Like all Apple products, the attention to detail is meticulous: the tightly bound pages are edged in silver; the paper is Apple-specific Heaven 42 Scheufelen from Germany — as is the Bamberger Kaliko linen with bespoke dye. The printing is simply astonishing: custom low ghost Epple inks and 8 CMYK color separations (4 is the norm) with 280 line screen printing give the photographs deep, rich blacks and colors so bright as to make a grown design lover weep.
As for the photographs themselves, they are of course impeccable. All were shot by Andrew Zuckerman in a typical “Appley” minimalist style, bathing Apple’s older hardware in the modern “press shot” aesthetic.
Perhaps the most interesting photographs are the “teardown” shots of MacBooks, iMacs, and the 2007 iPhone. I’ve lingered over one shot of the back of a first-generation Phone which has been scratched and dented through use. It wears a patina of rugged awesomeness with pride.