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The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone Hardcover – June 20, 2017

by Brian Merchant (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 780 ratings
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The secret history of the invention that changed everything-and became the most profitable product in the world.

"The One Device is a tour de force, with a fast-paced edge and heaps of analytical insight."-Ashlee Vance, New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk

"A stunning book. You will never look at your iPhone the same way again." -Dan Lyons, New York Times bestselling author of Disrupted

Odds are that as you read this, an iPhone is within reach. But before Steve Jobs introduced us to "the one device," as he called it, a cell phone was merely what you used to make calls on the go.

How did the iPhone transform our world and turn Apple into the most valuable company ever? Veteran technology journalist Brian Merchant reveals the inside story you won't hear from Cupertino-based on his exclusive interviews with the engineers, inventors, and developers who guided every stage of the iPhone's creation.

This deep dive takes you from inside One Infinite Loop to 19th century France to WWII America, from the driest place on earth to a Kenyan pit of toxic e-waste, and even deep inside Shenzhen's notorious "suicide factories." It's a firsthand look at how the cutting-edge tech that makes the world work-touch screens, motion trackers, and even AI-made their way into our pockets.

The One Device is a roadmap for design and engineering genius, an anthropology of the modern age, and an unprecedented view into one of the most secretive companies in history. This is the untold account, ten years in the making, of the device that changed everything.
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  1. Print length
    416 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Little, Brown and Company
  4. Publication date
    June 20, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    6.38 x 1.38 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    031654616X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0316546164
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The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Shortlisted for the 2017 Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award and the 1-800-CEO-READS Award

One of the Best Business Books of 2017 - CNBC, Bloomberg, 1-800-CEO-Read, Financial Times

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice



"A remarkable tale... the story it tells is compelling, even addictive--almost as addictive as the iPhone itself."―Wall Street Journal

"Like the best historians, Merchant... unpacks the history of the iPhone in a way that makes it seem both inevitable in its outline and surprising in its details."―The Guardian

"Apple's culture of secrecy is no match for Brian Merchant in The One Device....Merchant tells a far richer story than I--having covered Apple for years as a journalist--have seen before... The iPhone masquerades as a thing not made by human hands. Merchant's book makes visible that human labor, and in the process dispels some of the fog and reality distortion that surround the iPhone."―Lev Grossman, New York Times Book Review

"A fascinating story."―Marketplace

"Merchant does the important work of excavating and compiling large numbers of details and anecdotes about the development of the iPhone, many of them previously unrecorded... Merchant tells a far richer story than the outside world has seen before."―Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"Brian Merchant takes readers on an epic journey."―Parade

"Brian Merchant gives us a rare look inside Apple, chronicling the development of the iPhone with details about everything from the selection of raw materials to the product's famous launch event."―Gizmodo

"Fascinating... the author writes in the style of a fast-paced novel, with vivid details that help readers really understand how the iPhone was devised and launched."―John Rampton, Entrepreneur

"A wild ride."―San Francisco Chronicle

"An excellent book."―Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

"The One Device is a tour de force. Brian Merchant has dug into the iPhone like no other reporter before him, traveling the world to find the untold stories behind the device's creation and uncover the very real human costs that come with making the iPhone. Packed with vivid detail, the book carries the reader from one unexpected revelation to the next with a fast-paced edge and heaps of analytical insight."―Ashlee Vance, New York Times bestselling author of Elon Musk

"This is a stunning book-a comprehensive, fascinating, and compulsively engaging account of how the most revolutionary product of our age was invented. Brian Merchant sets off on a journey around the globe, from design studios in California to mines in South America to factories in China, to tell the human stories-the ruined marriages, the lost lives-behind this iconic device. You will never look at your iPhone the same way again."―Dan Lyons, New York Times bestselling author of Disrupted

"Brian Merchant has written a fascinating biography of the iPhone, the most important single product ever created. If you've looked at the glowing screen in your hand and wondered where the hell it came from, this book provides rich, unexpected, and unusually sophisticated answers."―Alexis Madrigal, author of Powering the Dream

"Compressing decades of competitive invention and behind-the-screen intrigue, Brian Merchant looks deep into the black mirror of the iPhone to tell us the prehistory-and cultural future-of Apple's addictive device. This is the true science fiction of our time: how everyday experience was reinvented by a gadget."―Geoff Manaugh, New York Times bestselling author of A Burglar's Guide to the City

"The One Device is a high-stakes adventure all thw ay down the global supply chain, from hush-hush design labs to dusty, desolate South American mines and sweeping Chinese factories the size of cities, passing through nearly every continent on Earth as it reveals the countless hidden lives that touch your iPhone before-and after-it passes through your hands. Think of it as the manual Apple would never give you: required reading for anyone who wants to know how their iPhone really works."―Claire Evans, author and member of YACHT

"A thoughtful portrait of how a piece of reigning technology became ubiquitous in just a decade, for good and ill."―Kirkus Reviews


"Riveting...a globe-trotting history that... lets us hear from some of the innovators who created the elements [of the iPhone]. A fascinating and surprising book."―Library Journal

"Brian Merchant is a lovely writer... formidable... fascinating."―The Times of London

About the Author

Brian Merchant is the senior editor of Motherboard, VICE's science and technology outlet, the founder/editor of Terraform, its online fiction outlet, and his work has appeared in the Guardian, Slate, Vice Magazine, Salon, Fast Company, Discovery, GOOD, Paste, Grist, and beyond.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company (June 20, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 031654616X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316546164
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.38 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.38 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 780 ratings

About the author

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Brian Merchant

Brian Merchant

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Brian Merchant is the tech columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He's the bestselling author of ‘The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone’ (Little, Brown, 2017), the co-founder of Terraform, Vice Media's speculative fiction project, and the author of the forthcoming 'Blood in the Machine,' also from Little, Brown. His work has appeared in the New York Times, WIRED, the Atlantic, Harper's, Slate, the Guardian, and beyond.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
780 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well worth their time and consider it one of the best about the iPhone, praising its detailed account and outstanding overview. The writing style receives mixed reactions, with some finding it well written while others struggle to read it. The narrative quality is also mixed, with several customers noting there's too much narrative. The content receives mixed feedback, with one customer appreciating the deep dive into suppliers while another finds it too much information.

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60 customers mention "Readability"53 positive7 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a super interesting and informative read, with one customer noting it's particularly engaging for technology enthusiasts.

"...It tells the truly amazing story of how Apple used the iPhone to transform how we perceive and interface with our world...." Read more

"...The One Device is a fantastic read for anyone interested in technology...just be aware you'll be learning about a lot more!" Read more

"The chapter selections were excellent...." Read more

"...Is an incredible read but my disappointment was the writer Merchant writing style-it wasn't easy to read , he goes way to deep into the weeds..." Read more

32 customers mention "Information quality"27 positive5 negative

Customers appreciate the book's information quality, describing it as an outstanding overview with a detailed account of various inventions. One customer notes it is extensively documented, while another mentions it is the culmination of decades of research and technology.

"...of which were invented at Apple and all of which are seamlessly integrated into the system...." Read more

"...is not a singular invention but rather the culmination of decades of research and technology, packaged in slick design and marketing...." Read more

"...A stunning achievement of modern history and a thought-provoking book that makes you put down your iPhone to consider the profound implications -..." Read more

"Accurate and extensively documented...." Read more

16 customers mention "Writing style"8 positive8 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing style of the book, with some finding it well written while others mention it wasn't easy to read.

"...Very objective and not written by a rabid fan-boy. More to the book than I have mentioned." Read more

"...incredible read but my disappointment was the writer Merchant writing style-it wasn't easy to read , he goes way to deep into the weeds..." Read more

"...device, that has forever changed our lives, is engrossing and skillfully told. I heartily recommend it to all who enjoy a good read." Read more

"...bit of that in there but it seems as though the author had significant trouble sourcing information about the inner workings of Apple and has had to..." Read more

12 customers mention "Narrative quality"4 positive8 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the narrative quality of the book, with some finding it too detailed while others appreciate the behind-the-scenes events.

"...On looking forward to reading it, the textbook style disappointed me but nevertheless I recommend it especially if you love the iPhone." Read more

"...The scenes are fascinating even if morbidly so; the working environment is brutal, the workers are constantly overworked and live in cramped quarters..." Read more

"...And as other reviewers have noted, the narrative is a bit...fragmentary, though I think that's less a bug than a feature...." Read more

"...Along the way, the reader will discover interesting, sometimes troubling subplots, e.g., many iPhone technologies are not as new or original as you..." Read more

5 customers mention "Content"3 positive2 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's content, with some appreciating the detailed accounts of raw materials and supplier information, while others find it too extensive.

"...Even goes into a detailed account of the raw materials that make up the iPhone...." Read more

"Not enough content to write a book about. Too much stuff that the writer struggled to relate to the iPhone to fill the empty spaces to make a book" Read more

"Not totally a public relations exercise. Sections cover sourcing (with a large does of Conflict Metals ideology) and penentrate the giant Chinese..." Read more

"Good story, but too much information on what/how the iphone is made..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Stinky Greg
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting read!
    Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Let me start by saying I'm not now and never will be an iPhone fan. Give me an Android phone any and every day. Having said that, on the recommendation of my brother I decided to read this book and boy am I glad I did. It tells the truly amazing story of how Apple used the iPhone to transform how we perceive and interface with our world. It also dispels the myth created by Steve Jobs that Apple was the inventor of all the technology that it took to create this world changing smartphone we know as the iPhone. It shows that like most great inventions it was actually the work of thousands of individuals over countless years that brought the iPhone to life. While Apple brought all this technology together and improved most so of it they did not create it. That said I would say this would be a must read for anyone who wants to understand the impact that the iPhone and other smartphones have had on us and our world.
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  • Ashutosh S. Jogalekar
    4.0 out of 5 stars How technology progresses by standing on the shoulders of giants
    Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Isaac Newton's quote about standing on the shoulders of giants applies to science as well as technology. No technology arises in a vacuum, and every technology is in some sense a cannibalized hybrid of versions of it that came before. Unlike science, however, technology suffers from a special problem: that of mass appeal and massive publicity, usually made possible by one charismatic individual. Because of the myth-weaving associated with it, technology even more than science can thus make make us forget its illustrious forebears.

    Brian Merchant's book on the origin story of the iPhone is a good example of both these aspects of technological innovation. It was the culmination of dozens of technical innovations going back decades, most of which are now forgotten. And it was also sold to the public as essentially the brainchild of one person - Steve Jobs. This book should handily demolish that latter myth.

    Merchant's book takes us into both the inside of the iPhone as well as the inside of the technically accomplished team at Apple that developed the device. He shows us how the idea of the iPhone came about through fits and starts, even as concepts from many different projects were finally merged into one. The initial goal was not a phone; Jobs finally made it one. But for most of the process Job was not involved, and one of the biggest contributions that the book makes is to highlight the names of many unsung engineers who both conceived the project and stuck with it through thick and thin.

    Merchant illuminates the pressure-cooker atmosphere at Apple that Jobs cultivated as well as his quest for perfection. Jobs comes across as an autocratic and curmudgeonly task master in the account; most of the innovations were not his, and people were constantly scrambling to avoid incurring his wrath, although that did not prevent him from being first on all the key patents. In some sense he seems to have hampered the development of the iPhone because of his mercurial and unpredictable personality. Nonetheless, he had a vision for the big picture and commanded an authority that none of the others did, and that vision was finally what made the device a reality. Merchant's doggedness in hunting down the true innovators behind the phone and getting them to talk to him - a constantly uphill battle in the face of Apple's ultra-secret culture - is to be commended. This is probably as much of an outsider's inside account as we are likely to get.

    The second part of the book is more interesting in many ways, because in this part Merchant dons the hat of investigative field reporter and crisscrosses the world in search of the raw materials that the phone is made up of. As a chemist I particularly appreciated his efforts. He surreptitiously sends a phone to a metallurgist who pulverizes it completely and analyzes its elemental composition; Merchant lovingly spends three pages listing the percentages of every element in there. His travels take him deep into a Bolivian mine called Cerro Rico which mines almost all the lithium that goes into the lithium-cobalt battery that powers the device. This mine, along with mines in other parts of South America and Africa which produce most of the metals found in the phone, often have atrocious safety records; many of the miners at Cerro Rico have average life expectancies of 40 years, and it's only the terrible standard of living that compels desperate job-seekers to try to make a quick buck here. Merchant also hunts down the father of the lithium-ion battery, John Goodenough (perpetual contender for a Nobel Prize), who gives him a tutorial not just on that revolutionary invention but on another, even more powerful sodium-powered batter that the 94-year-old chemist is working on.

    Merchant also explores the origin of the Gorilla Glass that forms the cover of the phone; that glass was the result of a late-stage, frenzied negotiation between Jobs and Corning. He leads us through the history of the gyroscopes, image stabilizing camera and accelerometers in the device, none of which were invented at Apple and all of which are seamlessly integrated into the system. And there is a great account of the transgender, maverick woman who massively contributed to the all-important ARM chip that is at the heart of the phone's operating system. Equally important is the encryption system which illustrates one of the great paradoxes of consumer technology: we want our data to be as secure as possible, and at the same time we also want to use technology in myriad ways in which we willingly give up our privacy. Finally, there is an important discussion of how the real innovation in the iPhone was not the iPhone at all - it was the App Store: only when third party developers got permission to write their own apps did sales soar (think Uber). That's a marketing lesson for the business school textbooks I believe.

    One of the most important - if not the most important - innovations in the iPhone is the multitouch display, and no other part of the phone illustrates how technology and ideas piggyback on each other. Contrary to popular wisdom, neither Steve Jobs nor Apple invented multitouch. It was in fact invented multiple times before over three decades; at particle physics lab CERN, at the University of Toronto, by a pioneering educator who wanted to make primitive iPad-like computers available to students, and finally, by a small company trying to make it easier for people with hand disabilities to operate computers. One of Apple's employees whose hand was sprained was seen wearing that device; it caught the eye of one of the engineers on the team, and the rest is history. Multitouch is the perfect example of how curiosity-based research gradually flows into useful technology, which then accidentally gets picked up by a giant corporation which markets it so well that we all misattribute the idea to the giant corporation.

    Another example of this technological usurpation is the basic idea of a smartphone, which again did not come from Apple at all. In fact this discussion takes Merchant into a charming sojourn into the nineteenth century when fanciful ideas about wireless telegraphy dotted the landscape of popular culture and science fiction; in one illustration from 1907, Punch Magazine anticipated the social isolation engendered by technology by showing a lady and her lover sitting next to each other but choosing to communicate through a fictional wireless telegraph. Like many other inventions, ideas about wireless communication had been "in the air" since Bell developed the telephone, and so the iPhone in a sense is only the logical culmination of this marketplace of ideas. The smart phone itself came from an engineer at IBM named Frank Canova. For a variety of reasons - most notably cost - Canova's device never took off, although if you look at it it appears to be an almost identical albeit primitive version of the iPhone.

    In the last part of the book, Merchant takes us on a trip to Foxconn, the world's largest electronics factory. Foxconn which is based in China is a city unto itself, and it's fascinating to have Merchant lead us through its labyrinthine and dimly-lit corridors, housing literally hundreds of thousands of workers whose toil reminds us of scenes from the underground city of Zion in the "Matrix" franchise. At one point Merchant makes an unauthorized excursion into forbidden parts of the factory and is amazed to see a landscape of manufacturing whose sheer scale seems to stretch on forever. The scenes are fascinating even if morbidly so; the working environment is brutal, the workers are constantly overworked and live in cramped quarters, and the suicides are so frequent that the authorities had to install nets in front of buildings to catch those who jumped from the top.

    In one sense everything - the Bolivian lithium salt mines with workers breathing noxious fumes and being paid in pennies, the iPhone scrap heaps in Africa over which eager counterfeiters drool, the dozen other odd sourcing companies for metals and plastics, the dizzying cornucopia of iPhone parts with their diverse history and the sweat and toil of countless unknown laborers in far-flung parts of the world struggling to produce this device, often under conditions that would be downright illegal in the United States - come together on that dimly lit factory floor in Foxconn to bring you the piece of technology on which you may be reading these words.

    You should never look at your phone the same way again.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Placeholder
    5.0 out of 5 stars A History of the iPhone...and Much More
    Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Brian Merchant's book should have been subtitled "The Secret History of the iPhone...and all preceding technology." For better or worse, The One Device dives into the story of Apple's signature product while also exploring the history of every ancillary piece of technology. It makes sense, given the book's premise that the iPhone is not a singular invention but rather the culmination of decades of research and technology, packaged in slick design and marketing.

    Merchant then goes deeper, tearing open the iPhone and taking us all over the world, under the mountains where rare Earth minerals are mined in horrid conditions and into the infamous factories where workers painstakingly assemble thousands of phones a day.

    In Cupertino, Merchant explores the secretive and obsessive culture in Apple. It's hard not to look at my phone now and think of the sleepless nights, missed weekends, broken marriages, and bouts of burnout and depression that went into making a device I use mainly to play Pokemon Go.

    The One Device is a fantastic read for anyone interested in technology...just be aware you'll be learning about a lot more!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Christy Nicol
    3.0 out of 5 stars Broad strokes were great, details were only good
    Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    The chapter selections were excellent. More than once I was pleasantly surprised when the book included one of my favorite iPhone anecdotes or technical details (such as the FingerWorks acquisition or the heavy software influence NeXT had over iOS). However, I noticed that some (admittedly very technical) details were incorrect or explained in such a way that was contradictory or confusing. Also, at many junctures the author chose to explain some technical point in a very general way in order to help the layperson understand it. Unfortunately, pulling away to generalities actually made the explanations more confusing. This was annoying when I already understood what he was explaining and forced me to look up the details myself when I didn't.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Sudhakar
    5.0 out of 5 stars The one book to read about the iPhone
    Reviewed in India on March 8, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    If you have to read only one book that distils the spirit of innovation, this must be the one.
    No one can stop an idea whose time has come, but this goes beyond that and says no one can foresee an idea whose time is yet to come and yet contributes in so many small ways towards the same.The greatest product of all time that changed lifestyles, looks,in hindsight, to have smoothly ridden on the shoulders of giants.
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  • marco meli
    5.0 out of 5 stars Un'analisi seria e informata sulla nascita del prodotto con il maggior successo di sempre.
    Reviewed in Italy on August 15, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Come molte storie che riguardano Apple e Jobs in particolare, la narrativa è spesso spostata sulle azioni di Steve come influenzatore dei fatti. Questo libro è a mio parere più oggettivo, ed analizza il lavoro corale che è esistito in quella fucina di innovazioni che è stata Apple in quel periodo. Tutti noi, anche i concorrenti, dobbiamo riconoscere l'impatto che tale innovazioni hanno avuto. Leggetelo, se volete almeno intuire cosa c'è dietro alla creazione di un oggetto che ha cambiato il mondo
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  • Oliver Völckers
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wie das iPhone entstand
    Reviewed in Germany on September 4, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Spannende Story, die berichtet, wie die zu modernen Smartphones beitragenden Technologien entwickelt wurden: GPS, Lithiumbatterien, Touchscreen, Sprachassistenten usw. Apple spielt dabei zwar eine wesentliche Rolle, das Buch konzentriert sich aber auf die Zulieferer und Erfinder außerhalb dieses Unternehmens. Eine ungewöhnliche Perspektive, gerade deshalb spannender als das x-te Apple-Enthüllungsbuch aus zweifelhaften Quellen. Dieses Buch hat Substanz.
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  • Frans
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the hidden gems of innovation books
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on January 5, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I still don't understand why this book has not been a superhit. It's my favorite innovation book, out of the hundreds that I've read. It's well researched, well written, and shows in an incredibly powerful way how innovation really works. 'How the sausage is made' is never the visionary CEO saying to the R&D department: design this! It's actually quite the opposite. So much for Steve Jobs the genius. In this book you will find the geniuses that actually made the iPhone and it's even more important software. Steve Jobs was a genius at getting brilliant people to work at Apple. If only he had been a little more humble and not take all the credit for their work.
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  • Roberto
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
    Reviewed in Canada on November 1, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Great read, provides a very interesting perspective on the piece of technology many of use the most. Highly recommendable if you like or use technology.
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