Apple Releases $300 Picture Book of Hardware Designs

Ever wanted an easy read for those gloomy overcast days? Now Apple has you covered with their latest product. As part of their celebration of company history, the Cupertino firm has released a new picture book chronicling their hardware designs. Titled “Designed by Apple in California”, the book comes with 450 pages of various hardware photographs, all dedicated to Steve Jobs. In standard Apple style, the book comes at a hefty $199 for the 10.20” x 12.75” and $299 for the full size 13” x 16.25” version.

At those prices, there is no doubt that the books are of course hardcover. While the prices might seem a bit high, it is actually somewhat reasonable given the likely quality of the pictures and the expensive photo grade paper. The pictures are printed on specially milled, custom-dyed paper with gilded matte silver edges, using eight color separations and low-ghost ink. This linen-bound, hardcover volume was developed over an eight-year period.

Starting with the iMac in 1998 and all the way to the Apple Pencil in 2015, the book explores the company’s design paradigm. For such a hefty price, it’s a shame that the new MacBook Pros are not included. It seems pretty crazy to be burning that much cash for a bunch of pictures of Apple hardware. Needless to say, the book will likely be a collectors item and not really for regular consumers. For the more pragmatic among us, the book will be available for viewing at Apple stores and perhaps even in an electronic format one day.