iPhone: The Missing Manual: The book that should have been in the box

Best Of All iPhone Books, But Somewhat Cumbersome For Experienced Users

I loved David Pogue's Missing Manual book when I got my iPhone 4. It showed me a lot of discoveries I hadn't expected. I didn't have the same reaction to this one. Perhaps it's because after using the iPhone for several years, there were a lot fewer a-ha moments. But it also seemed extremely complex with reams of data and information. It may be time for Mr. Pogue to change up his format and divide the book into two sections: The basics for newcomers to the iPhone, and new info for those updating to the latest iPhone and/or software. The good news is that I discovered a few features that were helpful that I didn't know about. But it took me literally days of reading to discover them. I also challenge Mr. Pogue's narrative that the iPhone 7 Plus uses two cameras to optimize a zoom level between 1X and 2X. As I understand it as a professional photographer, only one camera is engaged at a time except during Portrait Mode. Further, I wish Mr. Pogue had discussed the fact that Apple regrettably just digitally 2X zooms their regular camera in low light even when you think you are getting the 2X native camera, and that the user can create their own workaround by using Portrait Mode even with PM not "working" to force the iPhone to use the 2X camera. That being said, I still recommend this book for 1) iPhone newbies; 2) those who can skim through quickly to find the parts of interest to them; or 3) those with a lot of time on their hands. Mr. Pogue is right -- this *is* the book that should have been in the box, and no one has a better writing style to impart a ton of information. And even I, a pretty well-versed iPhone user, discovered some new tips. As such, I give it five stars. Read more