PowerBook 100 series

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:Infobox information appliance The PowerBook 100 series is a line of laptop PCs produced by Apple Computer.

In October 1991, Apple released the first three PowerBooks: the low-end PowerBook 100, the more powerful PowerBook 140, and the high-end PowerBook 170, the only one with an active matrix display.

These machines caused a stir in the industry with their compact dark grey cases, use of a trackball, and the clever positioning of the keyboard which left room for palmrests on either side of the pointing device. Portable PC computers at the time tended to have the keyboard forward towards the user, with empty space behind it, so this was a surprising innovation and set the standard layout all future notebook computers would follow.

The PowerBook 140 and 170 were designed first. The 100 benefited from their development and by components miniaturized by Sony after Apple sent them schematics of the Mac Portable. The 100, however, did not sell well until Apple dropped the price substantially.

The 100 and 200 series PowerBooks were intended to tie into the rest of the Apple desktop products using the corporate Snow White design language incorporated into all product designs since 1986. However, unlike the Macintosh Portable which was essentially a battery-powered desktop in weight and size, the light colors and decorative recessed lines did not seem appropriate for the scaled-down designs. In addition to adopting the darker-gray color scheme which co-ordinated with the official corporate look, they also adopted a raised series of ridges mimicking the indented lines on the desktops. The innovative look not only unified their entire product line, but set Apple apart in the marketplace and had the added benefit of masking fingerprints while the ridges provided added traction with which to grip the PowerBook. These early series would be the last to use the aging Snow White look; a new look was debuted on the 190 and the 500 series. ^[1]

The first series of PowerBooks were hugely successful, capturing 40% of all laptop sales. But several factors hampered Apple's efforts to introduce newer models and keep ahead of competitors. One was the departure of the original PowerBook team to work at Compaq.^[2]Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Another was that Apple's plans to move on from the 68000 and 68030 CPUs were thwarted by overheating problems with the 68040. The 100-series PowerBook were stuck with chips that could not compete with Intel 80486-based PC laptops introduced in 1994. 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 original PowerBook 100, 140, and 170 were replaced by the 145 (updated to the 145B in 1993), 160, and 180 in 1992, with the 160 and 180 having video output allowing them to drive an external monitor. The PowerBook 180 had a superb-for-the-time active-matrix grayscale display, making it popular. In 1993, the PowerBook 165c was the first PowerBook with a color screen, later followed by the 180c. In 1994, the last true member of the 100-series form factor introduced was the PowerBook 150, targeted at value-minded consumers and students.

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 PowerBook 5300, and the last PowerBook model to be manufactured using a Motorola 68k-family processor). However, like the 190, the 150 also used the 5300 IDE-based logic-board architecture. From the 100's 68000 processor, to the 190's 68LC040 processor, the 100 series PowerBooks span the entire Apple 68K line, with the 190 even upgradable to a PowerPC processor. The PowerBook Duo spanned the 68030 line of processors and sold through the PowerPC transition to the PowerPC 603e processor with the 2300, also based on the 5300's internal architecture.

In February 2005, Mobile PC magazine named the PowerBook 100 its choice as the "#1 gadget of all time."^[3]

Technical specifications

Listed chronologically, by release date

Models		PowerBook 100^[4]	PowerBook 140^[5]^[6]	PowerBook 170^[7]	PowerBook 145^[8]^[9]	PowerBook 160^[10]	PowerBook 180^[11]^[12]	PowerBook 165c^[13]	PowerBook 145B^[14]^[15]	PowerBook 180c^[16]^[17]	PowerBook 165^[18]	PowerBook 150^[19]	PowerBook 190^[20]^[21]	PowerBook 190cs^[22]^[23]
Timetable	Introduced	October 21, 1991			August 3, 1992	October 19, 1992		February 10, 1993	June 7, 1993		August 16, 1993	July 18, 1994	August 28, 1995
Timetable	Discontinued	September 3, 1992	August 3, 1992	October 19, 1992	June 7, 1993	August 16, 1993	May 16, 1994	December 13, 1993	July 18, 1994	March 14, 1994	July 18, 1994	October 14, 1995	April 1, 1996	September 1, 1996
Ordering info.	Gestalt ID	24	25	21	25/54	34	33	50	54	71	84	115	122
	Order number	M0567	M0511	M1057	M4630	M4500	M4400	M4990	M1592	M7950	M1641	M2794	M3530	M4073
	Model	M1506	M5416	M5409	M5409	M4550	M4400	M4490	M5409	M7940	M4440	M2740	M3047	M3047
Performance	Processor	Motorola 68000	Motorola 68030										Motorola 68LC040
	Processor speed	16 MHz		25 MHz			33 MHz		25 MHz	33 MHz			33 MHz ("66 MHz")
	FPU	No		Motorola 68882	No		Motorola 68882		No	Motorola 68882	No
	ROM	256 KB	1 MB										2 MB
	RAM	2 MB, expandable to 8 MB		4 MB, expandable to 8 MB	2 MB, expandable to 8 MB	4 MB, expandable to 14 MB			4 MB, expandable to 8 MB	4 MB, expandable to 14 MB		4 MB, expandable to 36 MB	4 MB, expandable to 40 MB
Storage	Hard drive	20–40 MB SCSI	40–80 MB SCSI		80–160 MB SCSI	40–120 MB SCSI	80–120 MB SCSI	80–160 MB SCSI	80–120 MB SCSI	80–160 MB SCSI		120–250 MB IDE	500 MB IDE
Storage	Floppy drive	None	1.44 MB Superdrive										1.44 MB removable module
Display	Size	Script error: No such module "convert".	Script error: No such module "convert".					Script error: No such module "convert".	Script error: No such module "convert".	Script error: No such module "convert".	Script error: No such module "convert".		Script error: No such module "convert".	Script error: No such module "convert".
	Colors	1-bit Monochrome				4-bit Grayscale (16 grays)		8-bit color (256 colors)	1-bit Monochrome	8-bit color (256 colors)	4-bit Grayscale (16 grays)	2-bit Grayscale (4 grays)	4-bit Grayscale (16 grays)	8-bit color (256 colors)
	Method	Passive matrix (FSTN)^[24] LCD (backlit)	Passive matrix	Active matrix	Passive matrix		Active matrix	Passive matrix		Active matrix	Passive matrix			Passive matrix/dual-scan
	Resolution	640 × 400								640 x 480	640 x 400	640 × 480
Dimensions	H × W × D	Script error: No such module "convert". × Script error: No such module "convert". × Script error: No such module "convert".	Script error: No such module "convert". x Script error: No such module "convert". x Script error: No such module "convert".										Script error: No such module "convert". x Script error: No such module "convert". x Script error: No such module "convert".
Dimensions	Weight	Script error: No such module "convert".	Script error: No such module "convert".					Script error: No such module "convert".	Script error: No such module "convert".				Script error: No such module "convert".	Script error: No such module "convert".
Operating systems	Original	System 6.0.8	System 7.0.1			System 7.1							System 7.5.2
Operating systems	Maximum	System 7.5.5	System 7.6.1	System 7.5.5	System 7.6.1		System 7.5.5	System 7.6.1		System 7.5.5	System 7.6.1		Mac OS 8.1

Timeline

Timeline of portable Macintoshes Script error: No such module "Navbar".

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</timeline> Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

References

↑ "Kunkel, Paul, AppleDesign: The work of the Apple Industrial Design Group, with photographs by Rick English, New York: Graphis, 1997, p.30
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Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

External links

Script error: No such module "Side box".

Apple-History

Script error: No such module "Navbox".

[1] "Kunkel, Paul, AppleDesign: The work of the Apple Industrial Design Group, with photographs by Rick English, New York: Graphis, 1997, p.30

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[4] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[5] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[6] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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PowerBook 100 series

Contents

Technical specifications

Timeline

References

External links

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PowerBook 100 series

Technical specifications

Timeline

References

External links

Navigation menu

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