MWSF - Apple Introduces New PowerBook G4s, Here Are The Specs

by , 3:35 PM EST, January 9th, 2001

Apple has introduce a new laptop aimed at everyone who wants the fastest and most cool looking notebook on the planet. It is thin, it is fast, using the G4 processor for the first time in a portable, and it made with a Titanium case. It also ways in a 5.3 pounds and has a wide screen 15.2" screen. They are simply incredible. According to Apple:

Apple® today redefined mobile computing with the new Titanium PowerBook® G4 featuring PowerPC G4 processors with Velocity Engine™ running up to 500 MHz, a 15.2-inch (diagonal) mega-wide display, slot-loading DVD drive and 5 hour battery—all in a one inch thick Titanium enclosure weighing just 5.3 pounds.

"The all new Titanium PowerBook G4 is the most revolutionary portable computer ever created," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Its a 'supercomputer to go' in terms of performance, yet it's thinner and sexier than the best subnotebooks."

• The super light yet incredibly powerful Titanium PowerBook G4 outperforms Pentium III-based notebook systems by up to 30 percent* with key new features including:
• PowerPC G4 processors with Velocity Engine running up to 500 MHz with a 1MB L2 cache;
• 1-inch thick;
• 5.3 pounds;**
• Titanium metal body;
• stunning 15.2 inch (diagonal) TFT widescreen active-matrix display;
• slot-loading DVD-ROM drive;
• up to five hours of battery life on one Lithium-ion battery;
• 128MB to 256MB of SDRAM, expandable to 1GB;
• AGP 2X Rage Mobility 128 with 8MB SDRAM;
• built-in 10/100 Ethernet, USB, FireWire®, VGA and S-video output; and
• AirPort™ ready with integrated antennas.

PowerBook G4's mega-wide display and blazingly fast PowerPC G4 processors make it the ultimate system for portable video editing using Apple's iMovie™ 2, the world's most popular, easy-to-use consumer digital video editing software which comes preinstalled, or Apple's award-winning Final Cut Pro® professional video editing, effects and compositing software.

PowerBook G4 is AirPort ready with a built-in slot for the AirPort Card and two built-in antennas for communicating with the AirPort Base Station. AirPort, Apple's revolutionary wireless networking solution, provides totally untethered Internet access at speeds up to 11 megabits per second.

Pricing & Availability
The new PowerBook G4 line will be available in January through The Apple Store™ (www.apple.com) and Apple Authorized Resellers in two standard configurations:

• PowerBook G4 with a PowerPC G4 400 MHz processor with 1MB level 2 backside cache, 128MB PC-100 SDRAM, a 10GB Ultra ATA/66 hard drive, ATI RAGE Mobility 128 featuring AGP 2X support and 8MB SDRAM of video memory, built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, FireWire™ and USB ports, VGA and S-Video ports, AirPort ready, built-in 56K V.90 modem, iTunes and iMovie 2 for a suggested retail price of US$2,599; and
• PowerBook G4 with PowerPC G4 500 MHz processor with 1MB level 2 backside cache, 256MB PC-100 SDRAM, 20GB Ultra ATA/66 hard drive, ATI RAGE Mobility 128 featuring AGP 2X support and 8MB SDRAM of video memory, built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, FireWire and USB ports, VGA and S-Video ports, AirPort ready, built-in 56K V.90 modem, iTunes and iMovie 2 for a suggested retail price of US$3,499.

Additional build-to-order options for the new PowerBook G4 include: a 30GB hard drive; up to 1GB of SDRAM; and the AirPort Base Station and AirPort Card; and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

* Based on 12 commonly used actions in Adobe Photoshop 5.5.
** Weight includes battery and DVD drive, and varies by configuration and manufacturing process.

You can find more information on the PowerBook at Apple's Web site. The PowerBook G4 will be priced US$2599 at 400 MHz, and US$3499 for the 500 MHz model. Apple said the units should be available in January with production ramping up now.

The Mac Observer Spin:

These new laptops were hinted at in the various rumor forums, but the reality blows away the speculation. The PowerBook G4 looks awesome, and is the fastest laptop on the planet. Interestingly, Apple is clearly gunning for space dominated by the Vaio and Steve Jobs repeatedly referred to the Vaio in his Keynote introduction. Lest we be misunderstood, the new PowerBook is everything Vaio could be in terms of looks, if it had been designed by Apple in the first place.

PowerBook G4