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iBook is a line of
laptop computer A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...
s designed, manufactured, and sold by
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
from 1999 to 2006. The line targeted entry-level, consumer and education markets, with lower specifications and prices than the
PowerBook The PowerBook (known as Macintosh PowerBook before 1997) is a family of Macintosh laptop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and r ...
, Apple's higher-end line of laptop computers. It was the first mass consumer product to offer
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...
network connectivity, which was then branded by Apple as
AirPort An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
. The iBook had three different designs during its lifetime. The first, known as the "Clamshell", was inspired by the design of Apple's popular
iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...
line at the time. It was a significant departure from previous portable computer designs due to its shape, bright colors, incorporation of a handle into the casing, lack of a display closing latch, lack of a hinged cover over the external ports and built-in wireless networking. Two years later, the second generation abandoned the original form factor in favor of a more conventional, rectangular design. In October 2003, the third generation was introduced, adding a
PowerPC G4 PowerPC G4 is a designation formerly used by Apple and Eyetech to describe a ''fourth generation'' of 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors. Apple has applied this name to various (though closely related) processor models from Freescale, a former part of ...
chip, USB 2.0 and a slot-loading drive. They were very popular in
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
, with Henrico County Public Schools being the first of many school systems in the United States to distribute one to every student. Apple replaced the iBook line with the MacBook in May 2006 during the
Mac transition to Intel processors Apple transitioned the CPUs of their Mac and Xserve computers from PowerPC to the x86 architecture from Intel. The change was announced at the 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who said Apple would g ...
.


iBook G3 ("Clamshell")

In the late 1990s, Apple was trimming its product line from the bewildering variety of intersecting
Performa The Macintosh Performa is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1992 to 1997. The Performa brand re-used models from Apple's Quadra, Centris, LC, and Power Macintosh families with mode ...
, Quadra, LC,
Power Macintosh The Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer as the core of the Macintosh brand from March 1994 until August 2006. Described by ''MacWorld'' as "the most important te ...
and
PowerBook The PowerBook (known as Macintosh PowerBook before 1997) is a family of Macintosh laptop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and r ...
models to a simplified "four box" strategy: desktop and portable computers, each in both consumer and professional models. Three boxes of this strategy were already in place: The newly introduced
iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...
was the consumer desktop, the Blue and White G3 filled the professional desktop box, and the
PowerBook The PowerBook (known as Macintosh PowerBook before 1997) is a family of Macintosh laptop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and r ...
line served as the professional portable line. This left only the consumer portable space empty, leading to much rumor on the Internet of potential designs and features. Putting an end to this speculation, on July 21, 1999,
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; ...
unveiled the iBook G3 during the keynote presentation of
Macworld Conference & Expo Macworld/iWorld was an information technology trade show with conference tracks dedicated to the Apple Macintosh platform. It was held annually in the United States during January. Originally ''Macworld Expo'' and then ''Macworld Conference & Expos ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Like the iMac, the iBook G3 had a
PowerPC G3 The PowerPC 7xx is a family of third generation 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors designed and manufactured by IBM and Motorola (spun off as Freescale Semiconductor bought by NXP Semiconductors). This family is called the PowerPC G3 by its well-kn ...
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...
, and no legacy Apple interfaces. USB,
Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...
,
modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by modulating one or more c ...
ports and an optical drive were standard. The ports were left uncovered along the left side, as a cover was thought to be fragile and unnecessary with the iBook's new interfaces, which lacked the exposed pins of earlier connectors. When the lid was closed, the hinge kept it firmly shut, so there was no need for a latch on the screen. The hinge included an integrated carrying handle. Additional power connectors on the bottom surface allowed multiple iBook G3s to be charged on a custom-made rack. The iBook G3 was the first Mac to use Apple's new "Unified Logic Board Architecture", which condensed all of the machine's core features into two chips, and added AGP and Ultra DMA support. The iBook was the first mainstream computer designed and sold with integrated
wireless networking A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and business installations avoid the costly process of introducing c ...
. On the iBook's introduction, Phil Schiller, Apple's VP of Marketing, held an iBook while jumping off a height as data from the computer was transferred to another in order to demonstrate the wireless networking capability. The display bezel contained the wireless antenna, which attached to an optional internal wireless card.
Lucent Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the divestiture of the former AT&T Technologies business u ...
helped create this wireless capability which established the industry standard. Apple released the
AirPort An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
Wireless Base Station at the same time. There was heated debate over many things such as the
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...
, features, weight, performance and pricing. To provide sufficient impact protection, the iBook was larger and heftier than the PowerBook of the time, and yet had lower specifications. Standard features like PC card slots were absent, and so were speculated features such as touch screens and an ultra-long battery life. The iBook gained the label "Barbie's toilet seat", due to the distinctive design. Nevertheless, this same design made the iBook G3 unmistakable in movies and television shows. The iBook was a commercial success. The line continually received processor, memory, hard disk upgrades and new colors.
FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...
and video out were later added. The design was discontinued in May 2001, in favor of the new "Dual USB" iBooks.


Design

The design was clearly influenced by Apple's consumer desktop, the
iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...
. In fact, one of the marketing slogans for the iBook was "iMac to go." The clamshell design also echoed the eMate 300. Apple continued its trend of using transparent colored plastics for the shell, and released the iBook clamshell series in several colors, starting with Blueberry and Tangerine, later adding Indigo, Graphite and Key Lime colors. However, unlike the
iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...
, the iBook did not feature pinstripes. Steve Jobs announced that the Key Lime color, "a little less conservative, a little more fun", was exclusive to the online Apple Store. This resulted in some crowd members booing, to which Jobs replied: "Don't you like buying on the Apple Online Store?" Compared to follow-up iBook and PowerBook notebook computers, the Clamshell iBook proved to be the more reliable model. The original iBook is on exhibition at the London
Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generate ...
and the
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
. Vestiges of design ideas first adopted in the iBook G3 can still be seen today: moving interface ports from the back to the sides and leaving them uncovered, omitting a latch for the computer's lid, and providing multiple color options.


Technical specifications


Expandability and upgrades

The original iBook's only customer-serviceable parts were the RAM and AirPort card, accessed via two slots under the keyboard. No other modifications were possible in-warranty. There was no PCMCIA port for additional expansion capabilities. 40 screws needed to be removed to access the hard drive. The optical drive, however, can be accessed far more easily, requiring only 11 screws and one standoff to be removed. Later on, some users transplanted a 1024×768 LCD from the more recent white iBook into a clamshell iBook. This is only possible with the "FireWire" and "FireWire SE" models, as they have 8 MB of video RAM; the older ones only have 4 MB. All clamshell iBooks shipped with Mac OS 8.6 or 9.0. All clamshell iBooks supported Mac OS X 10.0 through 10.3.9.
Mac OS X Tiger Mac OS X Tiger (version 10.4) is the 5th major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. Tiger was released to the public on April 29, 2005 for US$129.95 as the successor to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Some ...
(v10.4) can also be installed.


iBook G3 Dual USB ("Snow")

Apple debuted the next-generation iBook G3 at a press conference in
Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,82 ...
, on May 1, 2001. The previous bold colors and bulky form-factor were abandoned, as were the handle, latch-less design and additional power connectors on the bottom surface. The resulting iBook was available in white only, hence the name "Snow" and incorporated transparent
polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...
in its casing. It was 30% lighter, and occupied less than half of the volume of the model it replaced, being smaller in all three dimensions. Despite that, it added an extra USB port and a higher resolution screen. Apple claimed the compact design did not sacrifice durability, saying it was "Twice as durable" as the previous model. With this revision, Apple began transitioning to translucent and white
polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...
casings in most of its consumer line, such as the
iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...
and the eMac. In contrast, most of its professional products used an
anodized Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. The process is called ''anodizing'' because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an elect ...
aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
finish. Near the end of its run, the Snow iBook G3 case became opaque and white instead of translucent white and magnesium.


Technical specifications


iBook G4 ("Snow")

Apple added a
PowerPC G4 PowerPC G4 is a designation formerly used by Apple and Eyetech to describe a ''fourth generation'' of 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors. Apple has applied this name to various (though closely related) processor models from Freescale, a former part of ...
chip to the iBook line on October 23, 2003, finally ending Apple's use of the PowerPC G3 chip. A slot-loading optical drive replaced the disc tray. The iBook G4 notebook also features an opaque white case finish and keyboard and a plastic display hinge. This is also the last iBook laptop released before MacBooks replaced the iBook line in 2006.


Technical specifications


Expandability and upgrades

The iBook keyboard lifts up, allowing installation of the AirPort (wireless) card and additional memory. This gives the keyboard a "spongy" effect, especially in PowerPC G3 models with the translucent keyboard. The "sponginess" was corrected in the PowerPC G4 models. Accessing the hard disk drive is complex and time-consuming, involving partial disassembly of the unit and the removal of over 30 different-sized screws. The memory in the iBook G4 is covered by a removable Airport card, and accessible by removing the RAM shield with a Phillips#00 screwdriver. While some of the earlier models (e.g., 800 MHz and 933 MHz) have a specified 640 MB RAM limit, it is possible to have a total of 1.12 GB of RAM installed (128 MB built-in, plus a 1 GB SO-DIMM), or 1.25 or 1.5 GB in the later models with 256 or 512 MB of RAM soldered to the logic board. Although no longer officially supported by macOS versions beyond those given in the chart above, the system has also been supported via
MorphOS MorphOS is an AmigaOS-like computer operating system (OS). It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC (PPC) processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale dev ...
(an Amiga compatible OS) since version 3.2.


Notes

* A copy of ''
Marble Blast Gold ''Marble Blast Gold'' is a 2002 3D platform game. It was pre-installed on some Apple Inc. computers like the iMac, iBook, and Mac mini. It is also available for Windows operating systems as well as various Linux distributions. The game was ...
'' came preinstalled on a certain version of the iBook G4 as a promotion of the game.


Quality issues

Display issues with the iBook line were caused by a notoriously problematic graphics chip, which could have issues with the heatsink or the BGA soldering work done at the factory. This would manifest in symptoms such as system lockups (as the graphics chip hangs from reaching the thermal limit), or visible graphical artifacts appearing on the screen (from the graphics chip failing). Apple initiated the "iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program" in January 2004, which covered the expense of repairing display problems of iBook G3 models for three years. In June 2004, the Repair Extension Program was expanded to cover all White G3 iBooks. Early models of the iBook G4 also suffered from display problems similar to those of the iBook G3, but were not covered by the repair extension program. Owners of iBooks that required expensive repairs for these problems submitted new class action lawsuits in December 2006. On May 2, 2007, the Danish Consumer Board published an extensive 3rd party report concerning the Apple iBook G4 logic board issue. A press release referred to the global consequences that this could have for possible guarantee claims. Some owners of the iBooks that experienced this flaw solved these issues temporarily through applying pressure to the heatsink or graphics chip, using a thin metal shim placed between the heatsink and the graphics chip. This both pushed the heatsink and graphics chip together, bridging the thermal gap, and pushing the graphics chip against the motherboard, temporarily reheating the solder beads back together.


Timeline


References


External links


Apple – Support – Specifications – iBook



Apple "MacBook" filing suggests iBook re-branding
{{Authority control Macintosh laptops Macintosh computers by product line PowerPC Macintosh computers Computer-related introductions in 1999