PowerBook 100 series
The PowerBook 150, the second last model of the series
DeveloperApple Computer
ManufacturerApple Computer
Product familyPowerBook
TypeLaptop
GenerationMacintosh PowerBook
Release dateOctober 1991 (1991-10)
Lifespan4.9 years
DiscontinuedSeptember 1, 1996 (1996-09-01)
Operating systemSystem 6, System 7, Mac OS 8
CPUMotorola 68000, Motorola 68030, Motorola 68LC040
Memory2–40 MB
Storage20–500 MB
Controller inputTrackball
CameraNone
TouchpadNone
PlatformMacintosh
Mass5.1–7.0 lb.
PredecessorMacintosh Portable
SuccessorPowerBook 500 series

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] 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
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 M4900 M1592 M7950 M1641 M2794 M3530 M4073
Model M1506 M5416 M5409 M5409 M4550 M4400 — 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
Floppy drive None 1.44 MB Superdrive 1.44 MB removable module
Display Size 9-inch (23 cm) 9.8-inch (25 cm) 8.9-inch (23 cm) 9.8-inch (25 cm) 8.4-inch (21 cm) 9.8-inch (25 cm) 9.5-inch (24 cm) 10.4-inch (26 cm)
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) 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 1.8 in (4.57 cm) × 11 in (27.94 cm) × 8.5 in (21.59 cm) 2.25 in (5.72 cm) x 11.25 in (28.58 cm) x 9.3 in (23.62 cm) 2.0 in (5.08 cm) x 11.5 in (29.21 cm) x 8.5 in (21.59 cm)
Weight 5.1 lb (2.31 kg) 6.8 lb (3.08 kg) 7.0 lb (3.18 kg) 6.8 lb (3.08 kg) 6.0 lb (2.72 kg) 6.3 lb (2.86 kg)
Operating systems Original System 6.0.8 System 7.0.1 System 7.1 System 7.5.2
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
Mac transition to Apple siliconApple WatchMac ProPower Mac G5Power Mac G4Power Macintosh G3Power MacintoshCompact MacintoshMacBook Pro (Apple silicon)MacBook Pro (Apple silicon)MacBook Pro (Apple silicon)MacBook Air (Apple silicon)MacBook Pro (Apple silicon)MacBook Pro (Apple silicon)MacBook Pro (Apple silicon)MacBook Pro (Apple silicon)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)MacBook Pro (Apple silicon)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)MacBook Pro (Intel-based)PowerBook G4PowerBook G4PowerBook G3PowerBook G3PowerBook 2400cPowerBook 3400cPowerBook 1400PowerBook 5300PowerBook 500 seriesPowerBook 190TiBookPowerBook 150PowerBook 500 seriesPowerBook 500 seriesPowerBook 500 seriesPowerBook 500 seriesPowerBook 165PowerBook 145BPowerBook 180cPowerBook 180PowerBook 165cPowerBook 160PowerBook 145PowerBook 170PowerBook 140MacBook Air (Apple silicon)MacBook Air (Apple silicon)MacBook Air (Intel-based)12-inch MacBookMacBook Air (Intel-based)MacBook Air (Intel-based)MacBook (2006–2012)PowerBook DuoMacBook Air (Intel-based)MacBook (2006–2012)MacBook (2006–2012)PowerBook G4PowerBook 100Macintosh PortablePowerBook G3PowerBook G3PowerBook G3PowerBook G3PowerBook G3PowerBook Duo 2300cPowerBook Duo 280cPowerBook Duo 280Macintosh PortablePowerBook Duo 270cPowerBook Duo 250PowerBook Duo 230Macintosh Portable
See also: List of Mac models

References

  1. ↑ "Kunkel, Paul, AppleDesign: The work of the Apple Industrial Design Group, with photographs by Rick English, New York: Graphis, 1997, p.30
  2. ↑ "Birth of the Powerbook". Low End Mac. Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  3. ↑ Chaffin, Bryan (February 22, 2005). "Mobile PC: PowerBook 100 #1 Gadget of All Time; iPod #12". The Mac Observer. Archived from the original on June 3, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2006.
  4. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 100 Specs". Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  5. ↑ Macintosh PowerBook 140: Technical Specifications, archived from the original on August 20, 2012, retrieved July 23, 2022
  6. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 140 Specs". Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 170 Specs". Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  8. ↑ Macintosh PowerBook 145: Technical Specifications, archived from the original on July 23, 2022, retrieved July 23, 2022
  9. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 145 Specs". Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 160 Specs". Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  11. ↑ Macintosh PowerBook 180: Technical Specifications, archived from the original on July 23, 2022, retrieved July 23, 2022
  12. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 180 Specs". Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 165c Specs". Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  14. ↑ Macintosh PowerBook 145B: Technical Specifications, archived from the original on July 23, 2022, retrieved July 23, 2022
  15. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 145b Specs". Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  16. ↑ Macintosh PowerBook 180c: Technical Specifications, archived from the original on July 23, 2022, retrieved July 23, 2022
  17. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 180c Specs". Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 165 Specs". Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 150 Specs". Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  20. ↑ Macintosh PowerBook 190: Technical Specifications, archived from the original on July 23, 2022, retrieved July 23, 2022
  21. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 190 Specs". Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  22. ↑ Macintosh PowerBook 190cs: Technical Specifications, archived from the original on July 23, 2022, retrieved July 23, 2022
  23. ↑ "Apple PowerBook 190cs Specs". Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  24. ↑ Macintosh PowerBook 100 Developer Note (PDF), Apple, Inc. (Developer Technical Publications), 1991, archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2004, retrieved May 10, 2008
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