PowerBook: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

PowerBook is Apple Computer's brand name for its series of Macintosh professional laptop computers. Since 1999, Apple has a second series of less expensive laptops, aimed at the consumer and education markets, the iBook.

Prior to the release of the PowerBook line, Apple had attempted to build a portable computer in the form of the Macintosh Portable. Its electronics were similar to those of a Macintosh SE, but with the CPU clocked twice as fast, a superb active-matrix LCD instead of CRT, and a very heavy sealed lead-acid battery, which provided it with up to 10 hours of use. Despite being a nice computer to use, it was usually called a "luggable" due to its size and weight. It did not sell well, and Apple was looking to do better the second time around.

Early PowerBooks

In October 1991 the first three PowerBooks were released: the low-end PowerBook 100, the more powerful PowerBook 140, and the high end PowerBook 170. The machines caused a stir in the industry with their compact dark grey cases, use of a trackball, and the clever arrangement of the keyboard which left room for resting one's wrists on the case. PC portable computers at the time tended to have the keyboard forward towards the user, with empty space behind it, so this was a surprising innovation. While the PowerBook 140 and 170 were original designs, the PowerBook 100 had an interesting pedegree: Apple had actually sent the schematics of the Mac Portable to Sony, who then figured out how to make it small. This is why the PowerBook 100's design does not match those of the rest of the series. The PowerBook 100 did not sell well initially, so Apple dropped the price substantially, and the remaining stock sold briskly.

In 1992 Apple released a hybrid portable/desktop computer, the PowerBook Duo. This was a very thin and lightweight laptop with a minimum of features, which could be insterted into a docking station to provide the system with extra memory, storage space, connectors, and could be connected to a monitor. The model did not sell as well as expected, although several companies have since picked up the design style.

The first series of PowerBooks were hugely successful and captured 40% of all laptop sales for a time, a fact that Apple seemed to do little to capitalize on. Instead the original team eventually were lured away to work at Compaq, setting back the effort to introduce updated versions for some time. For several years, new PowerBook and PowerBook Duo computers were introduced which featured incremental improvements, including color screens, but by mid-decade, most other companies had copied the majority of the PowerBook's features, and Apple was unable to regain their lead.

The 100-series PowerBooks were updated many times. The 165c was the first PowerBook with a color screen, later followed by the 180c. The 180 (which had a superb-for-the-time grayscale display) was hugely popular. The last true member of the 100-series was the PowerBook 150, targeted at value-minded consumers and students, in 1994. (The PowerBook 190, released in 1995, bears no resemblance to the rest of the PowerBook 100 series, and is in fact simply a Motorola 68LC040-based version of the 5300.)

Apple's PowerBook product line, in fact, declined during this time period. 1994 saw the introduction of the PowerBook 500 series, codename Blackbird. Faster and newer, the PowerBook 500 series continued the product line and held it on until the disastrous PowerBook 5300.

The PowerBook 5300 had numerous problems. While it was the highly anticipated, first PowerPC-based PowerBook, the 5300 was arguably Apple's worst product of the 1995-1996 time period where the company teetered on the brink of death. The 5300 was not competitive with other laptop models at the time. Many models shipped dead on arrival, and a few 5300's used at Apple actually burst into flames due to problems with then-new Lithium Ion batteries (earning the 5300 the nickname "Hindenbook", after the Hindenburg disaster). While no consumer 5300's suffered this fate, Apple was forced to recall the entire product line and delay its availability while they downgraded to proven Nickel Metal Hydride batteries. Apple's much-publicized PowerBook 5300 product placement in the film Mission Impossible turned to disaster when the PowerBooks were still off store shelves when the movie premiered in theaters. As Apple's product placement was late in the movie's development, the display of the movie version Powerbook 5300 was command line driven, not the Apple GUI.

Apple recovered from the 5300 debacle in 1996 and 1997 by introducing three new PowerBooks: the 1400, intended to replace the 5300 as a general-purpose PowerBook; the 2400, intended as a slim, sleek sub-notebook to replace the PowerBook Duo; and the luxury model PowerBook 3400. The PowerBook 3400 was adapted into the first PowerBook G3, codenamed the Kanga, late in 1997.

The second line of PowerBook G3's, completely redesigned from the Kanga, was released in 1998. Debuting at roughly the same time as the legendary iMac, the Wall Street PowerBook G3 series was comprised of 12", 13", and 14" models which had varying features and processing speeds. They included dual drive bays that could hold floppy drives, CD-ROM drives, or extra batteries. They also included a sleek, black, curved form factor. This form factor continued as Apple standardized on the 14" screen and introduced new revisions: Lombard, a slimmer, curvier, lighter PowerBook with a longer battery life and USB, (the only Macintosh to ship that included both USB and SCSI built in!) and Pismo, which replaced SCSI with FireWire and updated the PowerBook line to AGP graphics. The Pismo revision also brought Airport wireless networking capability, which had debuted along with AGP in Apple's iBook in July 1999 while the PowerBook notoriously lacked Airport capability until spring 2000.

Interim CEO Steve Jobs turned his eye to the redesign of the PowerBook series in 2000. Introduced in January, 2001, the result was a completely re-designed unit built on a titanium chassis, with a 15.2" wide-aspect screen suitable for watching widescreen movies. Built on the power of the PowerPC G4 processor, it was billed as the first supercomputer notebook in the world. It was lighter than most PC based laptops, and due to the low power consumption of the PowerPC it outlasted them by hours.

The TiBooks, as they were known, became a fashion item. They were especially popular in the entertainment business, where they adorned many desks in Hollywood. They made some inroads into the desktop market as well, thanks to their large screen. Many other laptop manufacturers followed suit and imitated aspects of the design, especially the wide screen, and sometimes also the silvery metallic casing.

The Titanium Powerbooks were released in configurations of 400 MHz, 500 MHz, 550 MHz, 667 MHz, 800 MHz, 867 MHz and 1GHz.

In 2003, Apple Computer launched both the largest-screen laptop in the world and Apple's smallest full-featured notebook computer. Both machines are made of anodized aluminum (hence the new nickname AlBook), feature DVD-burning capabilities (built-to-order on the small model), AirPort Extreme networking, Bluetooth, and 12.1" or 17" LCD displays. The 17" model includes an ambient light sensor built into the keyboard which backlights the keys and adjusts the screen brightness according to the light level.

The 12" PowerBook's screen is the same as that used on the 12" iBook, while the 17" PowerBook uses the same screen as that used on the 17" flat-panel iMac.

Later in 2003, the 15" PowerBooks were redesigned and now feature the same aluminum body style as their smaller and larger siblings, with the same feature set as the 17" model (including the backlit keyboard).

In April, 2004, the aluminum PowerBooks were upgraded. The SuperDrive was upgraded to 4x burning speed for DVDs, the fastest processor available was upgraded to 1.5GHz, and the graphics cards were replaced with newer models, offering up to 128MB of video memory. In addition, AirPort Extreme cards became standard for all PowerBooks instead of being offered as an add-on option.