PowerBook 100 series
Encyclopedia
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
PCs produced by Apple Computer
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
.
In October 1991 Apple released the first three PowerBooks: the low-end PowerBook 100
PowerBook 100
The PowerBook 100 was a portable subnotebook personal computer manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced on October 21, 1991 at the COMDEX computer expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Priced at US$2,300, the PowerBook 100 was the low-end model of the first three simultaneously-released...
, the more powerful PowerBook 140
PowerBook 140
The PowerBook 140 was released in the first line of PowerBooks. It was the mid-range PowerBook, between the low-end 100 and the high-end 170. As with the PowerBook 170, and unlike the 100, this PowerBook featured an internal floppy drive. Codenames for this model are: Tim Lite, Tim LC,...
, and the high end PowerBook 170
PowerBook 170
The PowerBook 170 was released by Apple Inc. in 1991 along with the PowerBook 100 and the PowerBook 140. Identical to the 140, it was the high end of the original...
, the only one with an active matrix
Active matrix
Active matrix is a type of addressing scheme used in flat panel displays. The term describes a method of switching individual elements of a flat panel display, using a CdSe or Silicon-based thin-film transistor for each pixel...
display.
These machines caused a stir in the industry with their compact dark grey cases, use of a trackball
Trackball
A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes—like an upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move a cursor...
, and the clever positioning of the keyboard which left room for palmrests on either side of the pointing device
Pointing device
A pointing device is an input interface that allows a user to input spatial data to a computer...
. 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 the original PowerBook designs, while the PowerBook 100 was the result of Apple having sent the schematics of the Mac Portable to Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, who miniaturized the components. Hence the PowerBook 100's design does not match those of the rest of the series, as it was actually designed after the 140 & 170 and further benefited from improvements learned during their development. The PowerBook 100, however, did not sell well until Apple dropped the price substantially.
Both the 100 & 200 series PowerBooks were intended to tie into the rest of the Apple desktop products utilizing the corporate Snow White design language
Snow White design language
The Snow White design language was an industrial design language developed by Hartmut Esslinger's Frog Design. Used by Apple Computer from 1984 to 1990, the scheme has vertical and horizontal stripes for decoration, ventilation, and the illusion that the computer enclosure is smaller than it...
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 grey colour 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 utilize the aging Snow White look, with the 190 adopting a new look along with the introduction of the 500 series.
The first series of PowerBooks were hugely successful, capturing 40% of all laptop sales. Despite this, the original team left to work at Compaq
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation is a personal computer company founded in 1982. Once the largest supplier of personal computing systems in the world, Compaq existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it was acquired for US$25 billion by Hewlett-Packard....
, setting back updated versions for some time. When increasing processing power, Apple was hampered by the overheating problems of the 68040
Motorola 68040
The Motorola 68040 is a microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060. There was no 68050. In keeping with general Motorola naming, the 68040 is often referred to as simply the '040 ....
; this resulted in the 100-series PowerBook being stuck with the aging 68030
Motorola 68030
The Motorola 68030 is a 32-bit microprocessor in Motorola's 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general Motorola naming, this CPU is often referred to as the 030 .The 68030 features on-chip...
which could not compete with newer-generation Intel 80486
Intel 80486
The Intel 80486 microprocessor was a higher performance follow up on the Intel 80386. Introduced in 1989, it was the first tightly pipelined x86 design as well as the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...
-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
PowerBook 160
The PowerBook 160 is a portable computer that was released by Apple Computer along with the PowerBook 145 and PowerBook 180 in October 1992. At the time, it constituted the mid-range model replacing the previous PowerBook 140 in processing power...
, and 180
Powerbook 180
The PowerBook 180 was a portable computer released by Apple Computer, Inc. along with the PowerBook 160 in October 1992. At the time, it constituted the new top-of-the-range model replacing the previous PowerBook 170. Its case design and features are the same as that of the 170, but it shipped with...
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
PowerBook 160
The PowerBook 160 is a portable computer that was released by Apple Computer along with the PowerBook 145 and PowerBook 180 in October 1992. At the time, it constituted the mid-range model replacing the previous PowerBook 140 in processing power...
was the first PowerBook with a color screen, later followed by the 180c
Powerbook 180
The PowerBook 180 was a portable computer released by Apple Computer, Inc. along with the PowerBook 160 in October 1992. At the time, it constituted the new top-of-the-range model replacing the previous PowerBook 170. Its case design and features are the same as that of the 170, but it shipped with...
. In 1994, the last true member of the 100-series form factor introduced was the PowerBook 150
PowerBook 150
The PowerBook 150 was a laptop created by Apple Computer in 1994. It was the last member of the PowerBook 100 series to use the original case design, the most affordable of the series when introduced, and also the last consumer model. It was 8 MHz faster than its predecessor, the PowerBook 145B...
, targeted at value-minded consumers and students.
The PowerBook 190
PowerBook 190
The PowerBook 190 and its companion PowerBook 190cs are laptop computers manufactured by Apple Computer as part of their PowerBook brand, introduced to the market in August 1995. The two models differ only in their screen: The 190 had a 9.5" greyscale display, while the 190cs featured a 10.4" color...
, 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
PowerBook 5300
The PowerBook 5300 series was the first generation of PowerBook laptops manufactured by Apple Computer to use the PowerPC processor. Released in August 1995, these PowerBooks were notable for being the first to feature hot-swappable expansion modules for a variety of different units such as ZIP...
, and the last PowerBook model to be manufactured using a Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
68k
68k
The Motorola 680x0/m68000/68000 is a family of 32-bit CISC microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and workstations and were the primary competitors of Intel's x86 microprocessors...
-family processor). However, like the 190, the 150 also used 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
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
processor. The PowerBook Duo spanned the 68030 line of processors and sold through the PowerPC transition to the G3
PowerPC G3
The PowerPC 7xx is a family of third generation 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors designed and manufactured by IBM and Motorola . This family is called the PowerPC G3 by its well-known customer Apple Computer...
processor with the 2300
PowerBook Duo
The PowerBook Duo was a line of small subnotebooks manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1992 until 1997 as a more compact companion to the PowerBook line. Improving upon the PowerBook 100's portability , the Duo came in seven different models...
, 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."