122-462: 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. It was targeted at the professional market; in 1999, the line was supplemented by the home and education-focused iBook family. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being
244-620: A Mach kernel and BSD foundations, a virtualization layer for old Mac OS apps (codenamed Blue Box), and an implementation of NeXTSTEP APIs called OpenStep (codenamed Yellow Box). Apple open-sourced the core of Rhapsody as the Darwin operating system. After several developer previews, Apple also introduced the Carbon API, which provided a way for developers to more easily make their apps native to Mac OS X without rewriting them in Yellow Box. Mac OS X
366-510: A Primetime Emmy . In the 2000s, Apple continued to use successful marketing campaigns to promote the Mac line, including the Switch and Get a Mac campaigns. Apple's focus on design and build quality has helped establish the Mac as a high-end, premium brand. The company's emphasis on creating iconic and visually appealing designs for its computers has given them a "human face" and made them stand out in
488-516: A store-within-a-store that would better showcase Macs and their software and peripherals. According to Apple, the Mac's share of computer sales in those stores went from 3% to 14%. In November, the online Apple Store launched with built-to-order Mac configurations without a middleman. When Tim Cook was hired as chief operations officer in March 1998, he closed Apple's inefficient factories and outsourced Mac production to Taiwan. Within months, he rolled out
610-510: A "masterpiece." Before the Macintosh, high-tech marketing catered to industry insiders rather than consumers, so journalists covered technology like the "steel or automobiles" industries, with articles written for a highly technical audience. The Macintosh launch event pioneered event marketing techniques that have since become "widely emulated" in Silicon Valley , by creating a mystique about
732-508: A 117 MHz PPC, 32 MB of onboard RAM , and a hot-swappable drive bay . With all of these features, though, the 5300ce was quite ahead of other laptop models at the time. Multiple problems with reliability, stability and safety (by some, the model was referred as the "HindenBook" because the lithium ion batteries used actually burst into flame in Apple tests, necessitating a recall and downgrade to nickel metal hydride batteries ) were present in
854-460: A Mac program, HyperCard , whose cards store any information—text, image, audio, video—with the memex -like ability to semantically link cards together. HyperCard was released in 1987 and bundled with every Macintosh. In the late 1980s, Jean-Louis Gassée , a Sculley protégé who had succeeded Jobs as head of the Macintosh division, made the Mac more expandable and powerful to appeal to tech enthusiasts and enterprise customers. This strategy led to
976-549: A crowded market. Apple has long made product placements in high-profile movies and television shows to showcase Mac computers, like Mission: Impossible , Legally Blonde , and Sex and the City . Apple is known for not allowing producers to show villains using Apple products. Its own shows produced for the Apple TV+ streaming service feature prominent use of MacBooks. The Mac is known for its highly loyal customer base. In 2022,
1098-555: A display cutout incorporating a 1080p webcam. The Mac Studio with M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips and the Mac Pro with M2 Ultra chip was unveiled at WWDC 2023, and the Intel-based Mac Pro was discontinued on the same day, completing the Mac transition to Apple silicon chips. The Mac Studio was received positively as a modest upgrade over the previous generation, albeit similarly priced PCs could be equipped with faster GPUs. However,
1220-455: A fire hazard. Approximately 128,000 defective units were sold. Though the problems first appeared to be solved, they continued for many users. In early August 2006, Engadget reported that a PowerBook had "violently exploded" because of faulty battery. On August 24, 2006, Apple and the CPSC announced an additional recall of more batteries for the same PowerBook models. About 1.1 million battery packs in
1342-410: A future upgrade was promised from the start. This came in 1995, as an Apple Motherboard containing a 100 MHz 603e processor and 8 MB of RAM (which snapped into a slot containing the previous 25 or 33 MHz 68040 processor and the 4 MB of RAM on the previous daughterboard). At the same time Newer Technology offered an Apple-authorized 117 MHz Motherboard, which was more popular than
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#17331152185041464-688: A general-purpose PowerBook; the PowerBook 2400 , intended as a slim, sleek sub-notebook to replace the PowerBook Duo; and the luxury model PowerBook 3400 . The PowerBook 1400 and 3400 were the first PowerBooks ever to include an internal CD drive. Late in 1997, the PowerBook 3400 was adapted into the first PowerBook G3, codenamed the Kanga. This series was the last PowerBook model to employ a "real" keyboard with 1 cm high keys; all later models have flat keys. The first PowerBook G3 Series (completely redesigned from
1586-454: A last-ditch attempt to fend off Windows, Apple yielded and started a Macintosh clone program, which allowed other manufacturers to make System 7 computers. However, this only cannibalized the sales of Apple's higher-margin machines. Meanwhile, Windows 95 was an instant hit with customers. Apple was struggling financially as its attempts to produce a System 7 successor had all failed with Taligent, Star Trek , and Copland , and its hardware
1708-647: A longer battery life and had both USB and SCSI built in and was a New World ROM Mac, and then the "Pismo" in 2000, which replaced the single SCSI port with two FireWire ports, updated the PowerBook line to AGP graphics, a 100 MHz bus speed, and DVD-ROM optical drives standard, in addition to dropping the "G3" from the PowerBook name. The Pismo revision also brought AirPort wireless networking capability (802.11b), which had debuted in Apple's iBook in July 1999. CPU upgrade cards are available for both Lombard and Pismo models. Interim CEO Steve Jobs turned his eye to
1830-499: A longer battery life. On May 20, 2005, Apple and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of some Apple PowerBook G4 batteries. These batteries were manufactured by Sony ; Dell , Toshiba , Lenovo , HP , Fujitsu and Acer laptops were also affected by the defective batteries. The joint Apple/CPSC press release stated that an internal short could cause the battery cells to overheat, posing
1952-402: A magnetic latch that secures the lid elegantly. The design language of consumer Macs shifted again from colored plastics to white polycarbonate with the introduction of the 2001 Dual USB "Ice" iBook . To increase the iBook's durability, it eliminated doors and handles, and gained a more minimalistic exterior. Ive attempted to go beyond the quadrant with Power Mac G4 Cube , an innovation beyond
2074-446: A menu. However, hampered by its high price of $ 9,995 (equivalent to $ 33,000 in 2023) and lack of available software, the Lisa was commercially unsuccessful. Parallel to the Lisa's development, a skunkworks team at Apple was working on the Macintosh project. Conceived in 1979 by Jef Raskin , Macintosh was envisioned as an affordable, easy-to-use computer for the masses. Raskin named
2196-700: A merger of NeXTSTEP and Mac OS as the foundation of Apple's new operating system strategy. At the time, Jobs only served as advisor, and Amelio was released in July 1997. Jobs was formally appointed interim CEO in September, and permanent CEO in January 2000. To continue turning the company around, Jobs streamlined Apple's operations and began layoffs. He negotiated a deal with Bill Gates in which Microsoft committed to releasing new versions of Office for Mac for five years, investing $ 150 million in Apple, and settling an ongoing lawsuit in which Apple alleged that Windows had copied
2318-415: A miniaturized design with a glossy dark gray cylindrical body and internal components organized around a central cooling system. Tech reviewers praised the 2013 Mac Pro for its power and futuristic design; however, it was poorly received by professional users, who criticized its lack of upgradability and the removal of expansion slots. The iMac was refreshed with a 5K Retina display in 2014, making it
2440-503: A new ERP system and implemented just-in-time manufacturing principles. This practically eliminated Apple's costly unsold inventory, and within one year, Apple had the industry's most efficient inventory turnover. Jobs's top priority was "to ship a great new product". The first is the iMac G3 , an all-in-one computer that was meant to make the Internet intuitive and easy to access. While PCs came in functional beige boxes, Jony Ive gave
2562-462: A new feature that parks the drive heads when sudden motion is detected by an internal sensor. Support for the 30-inch Apple Cinema display was also introduced in the new 17-inch model and was optional in the 15-inch model via a build-to-order upgrade to the computer's video hardware. The SuperDrive now included DVD+R capability. In October 2005, the two higher-end PowerBooks were upgraded once again, with higher-resolution displays (1440 × 960 pixels on
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#17331152185042684-670: A new standardized computing platform, which led to the creation of the PowerPC processor architecture, and the Taligent operating system. In 1992, Apple introduced the Macintosh Performa line, which "grew like ivy" into a disorienting number of barely differentiated models in an attempt to gain market share. This backfired by confusing customers, but the same strategy soon afflicted the PowerBook line. Michael Spindler continued this approach when he succeeded Sculley as CEO in 1993. He oversaw
2806-506: A problem with stuck keys and letters being skipped or repeated. iFixit attributed this to the ingress of dust or food crumbs under the keys, jamming them. Since the Butterfly keyboard was riveted into the laptop's case, it could only be serviced at an Apple Store or authorized service center . Apple settled a $ 50m class-action lawsuit over these keyboards in 2022. These same models were afflicted by "flexgate": when users closed and opened
2928-505: A program to repair affected keyboards free of charge. Higher-end models of the 15-inch 2018 MacBook Pro faced another issue where the Core i9 processor reached unusually high temperatures, resulting in reduced CPU performance from thermal throttling. Apple issued a patch to address this issue via a macOS supplemental update, blaming a "missing digital key" in the thermal management firmware. The 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro and 2020 MacBook Air replaced
3050-543: A reference to a type of apple called McIntosh . The current product lineup includes the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, and the iMac , Mac Mini , Mac Studio , and Mac Pro desktops. Macs are sold with the macOS operating system, which is not licensed to other manufacturers and exclusively bundled with Mac computers. Jef Raskin conceived the Macintosh project in 1979, which was usurped and redefined by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 1981. The original Macintosh
3172-409: A stir in the industry with their compact dark grey cases, built-in trackball , and the innovative positioning of the keyboard that left room for palmrests on either side of the pointing device . Portable PC computers at the time were still oriented toward DOS, and tended to have the keyboard forward towards the user, with empty space behind it that was often used for function key reference cards . In
3294-480: A strengthened hinge instead of a mechanical latch to keep it closed, ports on the sides rather than on the back, and the first laptop with built-in Wi-Fi . It became the best selling laptop in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 1999. The professional-oriented Titanium PowerBook G4 was released in 2001, becoming the lightest and thinnest laptop in its class, and the first laptop with a wide-screen display; it also debuted
3416-475: A thinner "Butterfly" keyboard, and replaced function keys with the Touch Bar . The Touch Bar was criticized for making it harder to use the function keys by feel, as it offered no tactile feedback. Many users were also frustrated by the need to buy dongles , particularly professional users who relied on traditional USB-A devices, SD cards , and HDMI for video output. A few months after its release, users reported
3538-420: Is a portable computer that was released by Apple Computer along with the PowerBook 180 on October 19, 1992 and the PowerBook 165 variants were released the following year. At the time, it constituted the mid-range model replacing the previous PowerBook 140 in processing power. The PowerBook 160 was sold until August 16, 1993. Its case design is the same as that of the PowerBook 180 , but it shipped with
3660-572: Is free of toxic chemicals like mercury , bromide , and PVC , and with smaller packaging. The enclosures of the iMac and unibody MacBook Pro were redesigned with the more recyclable aluminum and glass. On February 24, 2011, the MacBook Pro became the first computer to support Intel's new Thunderbolt connector, with two-way transfer speeds of 10 Gbit/s, and backward compatibility with Mini DisplayPort . Due to deteriorating health, Steve Jobs resigned as CEO on August 24, 2011, and Tim Cook
3782-682: The IBM PC in 1981, its sales surpassed the Apple II. In response, Apple introduced the Lisa in 1983. The Lisa's graphical user interface was inspired by strategically licensed demonstrations of the Xerox Star . Lisa surpassed the Star with intuitive direct manipulation , like the ability to drag and drop files, double-click to launch applications, and move or resize windows by clicking and dragging instead of going through
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3904-469: The Mac transition to Intel processors , because the operating system had been developed for both architectures since the beginning. PowerPC apps run using transparent Rosetta emulation, and Windows boots natively using Boot Camp . This transition helped contribute to a few years of growth in Mac sales. After the iPhone 's 2007 release, Apple began a multi-year effort to bring many iPhone innovations "back to
4026-430: The PowerBook 5300 (and the last Macintosh model to utilize a Motorola 68k -family processor). Like the 190, however, 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. In 1992, Apple released a hybrid portable/desktop computer,
4148-414: The PowerBook 5300 's motherboard and case as well. Introduced on February 10, 1993, the 165c (pictured) was identical to the 165, except that it included a 68882 FPU and had a passive matrix color LCD capable of displaying 256 colors. It was Apple's first PowerBook with a color display. As a result of the thicker color display, the exterior case lid was redesigned, more closely resembling that used on
4270-635: The PowerBook Duo , continuing to streamline the subnotebook features introduced with the PowerBook 100. The Duos were a series of very thin and lightweight laptops with a minimum of features, which could be inserted into a docking station to provide the system with extra video memory , storage space , connectors , and could be connected to a monitor . 1994 saw the introduction of the Motorola 68LC040 -based PowerBook 500 series, code-named Blackbird. These models of PowerBooks were much sleeker and faster than
4392-523: The Rosetta 2 translation layer, and iOS and iPadOS apps distributed via the App Store . These Mac models come equipped with high-speed Thunderbolt 4 or USB 4 connectivity, with speeds up to 40 Gbit/s. Apple silicon Macs have custom integrated graphics rather than graphics cards. MacBooks are recharged with either USB-C or MagSafe connectors, depending on the model. Apple sells accessories for
4514-625: The SD card slot. On March 8, 2022, the Mac Studio was unveiled, also featuring the M1 Max chip and the new M1 Ultra chip in a similar form factor to the Mac Mini. It drew highly positive reviews for its flexibility and wide range of available ports. Its performance was deemed "impressive", beating the highest-end Mac Pro with a 28-core Intel Xeon chip, while being significantly more power efficient and compact. It
4636-521: The StyleWriter printer and the Newton PDA. These changes were meant to refocus Apple's engineering, marketing, and manufacturing efforts so that more care could be dedicated to each product. Jobs also stopped licensing Mac OS to clone manufacturers, which had cost Apple ten times more in lost sales than it received in licensing fees. Jobs made a deal with the largest computer reseller, CompUSA , to carry
4758-452: The computer tower in a professional desktop far smaller than the Power Mac. The Cube failed in the market and was withdrawn from sale after one year. However, Ive considered it beneficial, because it helped Apple gain experience in complex machining and miniaturization. The development of a successor to the old Mac OS was well underway. Rhapsody had been previewed at WWDC 1997, featuring
4880-418: The desktop publishing market, turning the Macintosh from an early let-down into a notable success. Levy called desktop publishing the Mac's "Trojan horse" in the enterprise market, as colleagues and executives tried these Macs and were seduced into requesting one for themselves. PageMaker creator Paul Brainerd said: "You would see the pattern. A large corporation would buy PageMaker and a couple of Macs to do
5002-457: The iPhone 4 . iPhone-like multi-touch technology was progressively added to all MacBook trackpads, and to desktop Macs through the Magic Mouse , and Magic Trackpad . The 2010 MacBook Air added an iPad-inspired standby mode, "instant-on" wake from sleep, and flash memory storage. After criticism by Greenpeace, Apple improved the ecological performance of its products. The 2008 MacBook Air
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5124-405: The iTunes Store , iPod , iPhone , iPad , and the 2007 renaming from Apple Computer Inc. to Apple Inc. By January 2007, the iPod was half of Apple's revenues. New Macs include the white "Sunflower" iMac G4 . Ive designed a display to swivel with one finger, so that it "appear[ed] to defy gravity". In 2003, Apple released the aluminum 12-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 , proclaiming the "Year of
5246-591: The iWork office suite. Serlet and Tevanian were both initiating the secret project asked by Steve Jobs to propose to Sony executives, in 2001, to sell Mac OS X on Vaio laptops. They showed them a demonstration at a golf party in Hawaii , with the most expensive Vaio laptop they could have acquired. But due to bad timing, Sony refused, arguing their Vaio sales just started to grow after years of difficulties. With PowerPC chips falling behind in performance, price, and efficiency, Steve Jobs announced in 2005
5368-457: The " WallStreet/Mainstreet " series composed of models with varying features, such as different processing speeds (from 233 to 300 MHz) and the choice of 12-, 13-, or 14-inch screens. They all included dual drive bays capable of accommodating floppy drives, CD-ROM/ DVD -ROM drives, hard drives, or even extra batteries. A second PowerBook G3 Series code-named " PDQ " was introduced later in 1998, with minor changes in configuration options, notably
5490-469: The 100 series, which they replaced as the mid and high-end models. The 500 series featured DSTN (520) or active-matrix LCD displays (540 and 550), stereo speakers, and was the first computer to use a trackpad (although a similar technology had been included on the pioneering Gavilan SC 11 years earlier); it was also the first portable computer to offer built-in Ethernet networking. The PowerBook 500 series
5612-507: The 13-inch MacBook Pro, was introduced in mid 2009. Traditionally, the portable line trailed the desktops in the utilization of the latest processors, with the notable exception of the PowerBook G3, which was released simultaneously with the desktop Power Macintosh G3. PowerBooks would continue to trail behind the desktop Macs, however, never even adopting the G5 processor. This was due primarily to
5734-522: The 15-inch model, and 1680 × 1050 pixels on the 17-inch model) and faster 533 MHz DDR2 (PC2-4200) memory. The SuperDrive became standard equipment and included support for dual-layer DVDs on the 15- and 17-inch models. The 17-inch model was updated with a 120 GB standard hard drive, as well as a 7200 rpm, 100 GB build-to-order option. These drives were also options on the 15-inch PowerBook. The 12-inch model with SuperDrive remained unchanged in this respect, although each new PowerBook boasted
5856-469: The 17-inch PowerBook G4 was replaced by a 17-inch MacBook Pro variant. The 12-inch PowerBook G4 remained available until May 16, 2006, when the MacBook was introduced as a replacement for the iBook. Because of its availability in highly powerful configurations, it was also considered a replacement for the 12-inch PowerBook, ending the nearly 15-year production of PowerBook-branded computers. An indirect successor,
5978-555: The Afterburner card for faster video encoding. Almost every part of the new Mac Pro is user-replaceable, with iFixit praising its high user-repairability. It received positive reviews, with reviewers praising its power, modularity, quiet cooling, and Apple's increased focus on professional workflows. In April 2018, Bloomberg reported Apple's plan to replace Intel chips with ARM processors similar to those in its phones, causing Intel's shares to drop by 9.2%. The Verge commented on
6100-791: The American Customer Satisfaction Index gave the Mac the highest customer satisfaction score of any personal computer, at 82 out of 100. In that year, Apple was the fourth largest vendor of personal computers, with a market share of 8.9%. Apple outsources the production of its hardware to Asian manufacturers like Foxconn and Pegatron . As a highly vertically integrated company developing its own operating system and chips, it has tight control over all aspects of its products and deep integration between hardware and software. All Macs in production use ARM -based Apple silicon processors and have been praised for their performance and power efficiency. They can run Intel apps through
6222-416: The Apple product, and optionally came without any RAM. The company later offered 167 MHz and 183 MHz upgrades containing more memory and onboard cache memory to improve performance. Nonetheless, the internal architecture of the 500 series meant that the speed increase provided by the 100 and 117 MHz upgrades was, for most users, relatively small. The 500 series was completely discontinued upon
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#17331152185046344-400: The Apple silicon-based Mac Pro was criticized for several regressions, including memory capacity and a complete lack of CPU or GPU expansion options. A 15-inch MacBook Air was also introduced, and is the largest display included on a consumer-level Apple laptop. The MacBook Pro was updated on October 30, 2023, with updated M3 Pro and M3 Max chips using a 3 nm process node, as well as
6466-544: The Internet's appeal to consumers, 32% of iMac buyers had never used a computer before, and 12% were switching from PCs. The iMac reestablished the Mac's reputation as a trendsetter: for the next few years, translucent plastic became the dominant design trend in numerous consumer products. Apple knew it had lost its chance to compete in the Windows-dominated enterprise market, so it prioritized design and ease of use to make
6588-503: The Kanga) was released in 1998, although it was still an Old World ROM Mac. These new PowerBooks took design cues from the 500 series PowerBook, sporting dramatic curves and a jet-black plastic case. They were so fashionable that various G3 models became the personal computer of Carrie Bradshaw in the long-running Sex and the City television show. Debuting at roughly the same time as the G3 iMac ,
6710-470: The Lisa, with a mouse and a more intuitive graphical interface, at a quarter of the Lisa's price. Upon its January 1984 launch, the first Macintosh was described as "revolutionary" by The New York Times . Sales initially met projections, but dropped due to the machine's low performance, single floppy disk drive requiring frequent disk swapping, and initial lack of applications. Author Douglas Adams said: "But what I (and I think everybody else who bought
6832-418: The Mac Pro, Apple executives admitted in 2017 that the 2013 Mac Pro had not met expectations, and said that the company had designed themselves into a "thermal corner", preventing them from releasing a planned dual-GPU successor. Apple also unveiled their future product roadmap for professional products, including plans for an iMac Pro as a stopgap and an expandable Mac Pro to be released later. The iMac Pro
6954-519: The Mac became a "digital hub" and centerpiece with several new applications. In October 1999, the iMac DV gained FireWire ports, allowing users to connect camcorders and easily create movies with iMovie ; the iMac gained a CD burner and iTunes , allowing users to rip CDs, make playlists, and burn them to blank discs. Other applications include iPhoto for organizing and editing photos, and GarageBand for creating and mixing music and other audio. The digital lifestyle strategy entered other markets, with
7076-420: The Mac more appealing to average consumers, and even teens. The "Apple New Product Process" was launched as a more collaborative product development process for the Mac, with concurrent engineering principles. From then, product development was no longer driven primarily by engineering and with design as an afterthought. Instead, Ive and Jobs first defined a new product's "soul", before it was jointly developed by
7198-425: The Mac press. 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
7320-512: The Mac", including multi-touch gesture support, instant wake from sleep, and fast flash storage . At Macworld 2008, Jobs introduced the first MacBook Air by taking it out of a manila envelope, touting it as the "world's thinnest notebook". The MacBook Air favors wireless technologies over physical ports, and lacks FireWire , an optical drive , or a replaceable battery. The Remote Disc feature accesses discs in other networked computers. A decade after its launch, journalist Tom Warren wrote that
7442-495: The Mac's interface. In exchange, Apple made Internet Explorer the default Mac browser. The deal was closed hours before Jobs announced it at the August 1997 Macworld. Jobs returned focus to Apple. The Mac lineup had been incomprehensible, with dozens of hard-to-distinguish models. He streamlined it into four quadrants, a laptop and a desktop each for consumers and professionals. Apple also discontinued several Mac accessories, including
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#17331152185047564-492: The Mac's transition from Motorola 68000 series to PowerPC and the release of Apple's first PowerPC machine, the well-received Power Macintosh . Many new Macintoshes suffered from inventory and quality control problems. The 1995 PowerBook 5300 was plagued with quality problems, with several recalls as some units even caught fire. Pessimistic about Apple's future, Spindler repeatedly attempted to sell Apple to other companies, including IBM, Kodak, AT&T, Sun, and Philips. In
7686-668: The Mac, including the Studio Display and Pro Display XDR external monitors, the AirPods line of wireless headphones, and keyboards and mice such as the Magic Keyboard , Magic Trackpad , and Magic Mouse . Macs run the macOS operating system, which is the second most widely used desktop OS according to StatCounter . Macs can also run Windows , Linux , or other operating systems through virtualization , emulation, or multi-booting . PowerBook 160 The PowerBook 160
7808-511: The Mac, the Apple M1 , and a series of Macs that would ship with the M1: the MacBook Air , Mac Mini , and the 13-inch MacBook Pro . These new Macs received highly positive reviews, with reviewers highlighting significant improvements in battery life, performance, and heat management compared to previous generations. The iMac Pro was discontinued on March 6, 2021. On April 20, 2021, a new 24-inch iMac
7930-466: The MacBook Air had "immediately changed the future of laptops", starting the ultrabook trend. OS X Lion added new software features first introduced with the iPad , such as FaceTime , full-screen apps, document autosaving and versioning, and a bundled Mac App Store to replace software install discs with online downloads. It gained support for Retina displays , which had been introduced earlier with
8052-483: The Macintosh to lose its chance at becoming the dominant personal computer platform. Though senior management demanded high-margin products, a few employees disobeyed and set out to create a computer that would live up to the original Macintosh's slogan, "[a] computer for the rest of us", which the market clamored for. In a pattern typical of Apple's early era, of skunkworks projects like Macintosh and Macintosh II lacking adoption by upper management who were late to realize
8174-516: The Notebook". With the Microsoft deal expiring, Apple also replaced Internet Explorer with its new browser, Safari . The first Mac Mini was intended to be assembled in the U.S., but domestic manufacturers were slow and had insufficient quality processes, leading Apple to Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn . The affordably priced Mac Mini desktop was introduced at Macworld 2005, alongside the introduction of
8296-515: The United States were recalled; an additional 700,000 were sold outside the U.S. At the 2006 Macworld Conference & Expo , the MacBook Pro was introduced. The new notebooks, however, only came in 15.4-inch models and the 12-inch and 17-inch PowerBooks remained available for sale at Apple stores and retailers, as well as the 15-inch model, which was sold until supplies ran out. On April 24, 2006
8418-452: The brightness of the backlit keyboard and the display according to the light level. The 12-inch PowerBook's screen did not use the same panel as that used on the 12-inch iBook , while the 17-inch PowerBook used the same screen as that used on the 17-inch flat-panel iMac , but with a thinner backlight. Later in 2003, the 15-inch PowerBooks were redesigned and featured the same aluminum body style as their smaller and larger siblings, and with
8540-410: The company newsletter. The next year you'd come back and there would be thirty Macintoshes. The year after that, three hundred." In late 1985, Bill Atkinson, one of the few remaining employees to have been on the original Macintosh team, proposed that Apple create a Dynabook , Alan Kay's concept for a tablet computer that stores and organizes knowledge. Sculley rebuffed him, so he adapted the idea into
8662-522: The company's profit margins, and Macintoshes were priced far above entry-level MS-DOS compatible computers. Steven Levy said that though Macintoshes were superior, the cheapest Mac cost almost twice as much as the cheapest IBM PC compatible. Sculley also resisted licensing the Mac OS to competing hardware vendors, who could have undercut Apple on pricing and jeopardized its hardware sales, as IBM PC compatibles had done to IBM. These early strategic steps caused
8784-558: The company, he launched the Think different ad campaign, positioning the Mac as the best computer for "creative people who believe that one person can change the world". The campaign featured black-and-white photographs of luminaries like Albert Einstein , Gandhi , and Martin Luther King Jr. , with Jobs saying: "if they ever used a computer, it would have been a Mac". The ad campaign was critically acclaimed and won several awards, including
8906-451: The computer after his favorite type of apple, the McIntosh . The initial team consisted of Raskin, hardware engineer Burrell Smith , and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak . In 1981, Steve Jobs was removed from the Lisa team and joined Macintosh, and was able to gradually take control of the project due to Wozniak's temporary absence after an airplane crash . Under Jobs, the Mac grew to resemble
9028-591: The decisions to switch to fragile Butterfly keyboards, to make the Mac Pro non-expandable, and to remove USB-A, HDMI and the SD card slot from the MacBook Pro were criticized. The long-standing keyboard issue on MacBook Pros, Apple's abandonment of the Aperture professional photography app, and the lack of Mac Pro upgrades led to declining sales and a widespread belief that Apple was no longer committed to professional users. After several years without any significant updates to
9150-399: The early 5300s. After Apple offered an Extended Repair Program, the series turned into a remarkably attractive machine, but never lost its bad reputation. The bad publicity of 5300 series added to the woes of "beleaguered Apple" during the mid-1990s. Apple recovered from the 5300 debacle in 1996 and 1997 by introducing three new PowerBooks: the PowerBook 1400 , intended to replace the 5300 as
9272-415: The early days of Microsoft Windows , many notebook computers came with a clip on trackball that fit on the edge of the keyboard molding. As usage of DOS gave way to the graphical user interface , the PowerBook's arrangement became the standard layout all future notebooks would follow. The PowerBook 140 and 170 were the original PowerBook designs, while the PowerBook 100 was the result of Apple having sent
9394-479: The extreme heat caused by most of the full-sized processors available and unacceptable power consumption. With the introduction of the Intel-based Macs, once again, the MacBook Pro joined the iMac in sharing the new technology simultaneously. Macintosh Mac is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999),
9516-426: The first to incorporate features that would later become standard in competing laptops. The PowerBook was replaced by the MacBook Pro in 2006 as part of the Mac transition to Intel processors . 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
9638-444: The highest-resolution all-in-one desktop computer. The MacBook was reintroduced in 2015, with a completely redesigned aluminum unibody chassis, a 12-inch Retina display, a fanless low-power Intel Core M processor, a much smaller logic board, a new Butterfly keyboard, a single USB-C port, and a solid-state Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensitivity. It was praised for its portability, but criticized for its lack of performance,
9760-463: The iMac a radical and futuristic design, meant to make the product less intimidating. Its oblong case is made of translucent plastic in Bondi blue , later revised with many colors. Ive added a handle on the back to make the computer more approachable. Jobs declared the iMac would be "legacy-free", succeeding ADB and SCSI with an infrared port and cutting-edge USB ports. Though USB had industry backing, it
9882-420: The inclusion of L2 cache in even the lowest-priced 233 MHz model, which helped overall performance. Apple introduced two later G3 PowerBook models, similar in appearance (curved, black plastic case with black rubberized sections) but thinner, lighter and with revised internal systems. The "Lombard" appeared in 1999, (AKA: Bronze Keyboard) a thinner, lighter, and faster (333 or 400 MHz) PowerBook with
10004-471: The introduction of its replacement the PPC-based PowerBook 5300, with the PowerBook 190 replacing the 500 as the only 68LC040 PowerBook Apple offered. The PowerBook 5300 , while highly anticipated as one of the first PowerPC -based PowerBooks (along with the PowerBook Duo 2300c, both released on the same day), had numerous problems. In its 5300ce incarnation with a TFT of 800×600 pixels, Apple offered
10126-503: The largest-screen laptop in the world and Apple's smallest full-featured notebook computer. Both machines were made of anodized aluminum (coining the new nickname AlBook ), featured DVD-burning capabilities, AirPort Extreme networking, Bluetooth , and 12.1-inch or 17-inch LCD displays. The 17-inch model included a fiber optic -illuminated keyboard, which eventually became standard on all 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBooks. Two ambient light sensors, located under each speaker grille, adjusted
10248-430: The last of the true 100 series PowerBooks and the last Apple laptop to include two serial (printer and modem) ports. After the 165 was discontinued on July 18, 1994, its entry level descendant, the PowerBook 150 , would continue to be sold until October 14, 1995, and though it used the 140 case design, its internals were actually based on the PowerBook Duo and PowerBook 190 , a 100-series PowerBook in name only as it used
10370-469: The last. Apple acquired NeXT on December 20, 1996, returning its co-founder, Steve Jobs. NeXT had developed the mature NeXTSTEP operating system with strong multimedia and Internet capabilities. NeXTSTEP was also popular among programmers, financial firms, and academia for its object-oriented programming tools for rapid application development . In an eagerly anticipated speech at the January 1997 Macworld trade show, Steve Jobs previewed Rhapsody ,
10492-479: The less powerful 25 MHz Motorola 68030 CPU and no FPU , identically to the low-end 145. However, the PowerBook 160 came with a 9.8 in (250 mm) (diagonal) passive matrix LCD screen , which for the first time was capable of displaying 4-bit grayscale . The 160 and the 180 were the first PowerBooks to add an external color video port like the Macintosh Portable before it, as well as increasing
10614-488: The low power consumption of the PowerPC it outlasted them by hours. The TiBooks , as they were nicknamed, became a fashion item. They were especially popular in the entertainment business, where they adorned many desks in Hollywood motion pictures. Because of their large screens and high performance, Titanium Powerbooks were the first laptops to be widely deployed as desktop replacement computers. The industrial design of
10736-441: The lower specification 15-inch model and the 12-inch unit saw an increase in speed to 1.5 GHz. Optical audio output was added to the 17-inch version. Memory and hard drive defaults were increased to 512 MB and 5400 rpm , respectively, with a new storage maximum of 100 GB on the 17-inch model. Each model also received an enhanced trackpad with scrolling capabilities, a revised Bluetooth module supporting BT 2.0+EDR, and
10858-531: The machine in the early days) fell in love with was not the machine itself, which was ridiculously slow and underpowered, but a romantic idea of the machine. And that romantic idea had to sustain me through the realities of actually working on the 128K Mac." Most of the original Macintosh team left Apple, and some followed Jobs to found NeXT after he was forced out by CEO John Sculley . The first Macintosh nevertheless generated enthusiasm among buyers and some developers, who rushed to develop entirely new programs for
10980-444: The machine, they would risk progressively damaging the cable responsible for the display backlight , which was too short. The $ 6 cable was soldered to the screen, requiring a $ 700 repair. Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jony Ive continued to guide product designs towards simplicity and minimalism. Critics argued that he had begun to prioritize form over function, and was excessively focused on product thinness. His role in
11102-456: The majority of the PowerBook's features. Apple was unable to ship a 68040-equipped PowerBook until the PowerBook 500 series in 1994. The original PowerBook 100, 140, and 170 were replaced by the 145 (updated to the 145B in 1993), 160 , and 180 in 1992. The 160 and 180 have video output, allowing them to drive an external monitor. In addition, the PowerBook 180 had a superb-for-the-time active-matrix grayscale display, making it popular with
11224-509: The marketing, engineering, and operations teams. The engineering team was led by the product design group, and Ive's design studio was the dominant voice throughout the development process. The next two Mac products in 1999, the Power Mac G3 (nicknamed "Blue and White") and the iBook , introduced industrial designs influenced by the iMac, incorporating colorful translucent plastic and carrying handles. The iBook introduced several innovations:
11346-429: The maximum RAM to 14 MB. Both PowerBooks introduced a new power saving feature which allowed their processors to run at a slower 16 MHz rate, the same speed as the original 140. The PowerBook 160 had a 40MB SCSI hard disk drive, configurable to 80 or 120MB. The 165, which was introduced on August 16, 1993, added a 33 MHz processor and larger standard hard drive. Along with the PowerBook 145B , this would be
11468-548: The need to use adapters to use most USB peripherals, and a high starting price of $ 1,299 (equivalent to $ 1,700 in 2023). In 2015, Apple started a service program to address a widespread GPU defect in the 15-inch 2011 MacBook Pro , which could cause graphical artifacts or prevent the machine from functioning entirely. The Touch Bar MacBook Pro was released in October 2016. It was the thinnest MacBook Pro ever made, replaced all ports with four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, gained
11590-402: The notebooks quickly became a standard that others in the industry would follow, creating a new wave of wide-screened notebook computers. The Titanium PowerBooks were released in configurations of 400 MHz, 500 MHz, 550 MHz, 667 MHz, 800 MHz, 867 MHz, and 1 GHz. They are the last PowerBooks able to boot Mac OS 9 natively. In 2003, Apple Computer launched both
11712-483: 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. 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,
11834-565: The original team left to work at Compaq , setting back updated versions for some time. When attempting to increase processing power, Apple was hampered by the overheating problems of the 68040 ; this resulted in the 100-series PowerBook being stuck with the aging 68030 , which could not compete with newer-generation Intel 80486 -based PC laptops introduced in 1994. For several years, new PowerBook and PowerBook Duo computers were introduced that featured incremental improvements, including color screens, but by mid-decade, most other companies had copied
11956-536: The platform, including PageMaker , MORE , and Excel . Apple soon released the Macintosh 512K with improved performance and an external floppy drive. The Macintosh is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface, Jobs's fascination with typography gave it an unprecedented variety of fonts and type styles like italics, bold, shadow, and outline. It is the first WYSIWYG computer, and due in large part to PageMaker and Apple's LaserWriter printer, it ignited
12078-427: The product and giving an inside look into its creation. Apple took a new "multiple exclusives" approach regarding the press, giving "over one hundred interviews to journalists that lasted over six hours apiece", and introduced a new "Test Drive a Macintosh" campaign. Apple's brand, which established a "heartfelt connection with consumers", is cited as one of the keys to the Mac's success. After Steve Jobs's return to
12200-522: The projects' merit, this once-renegade project was actually endorsed by senior management following market pressures. In 1990 came the Macintosh LC and the more affordable Macintosh Classic , the first model under $ 1,000 (equivalent to $ 2,300 in 2023). Between 1984 and 1989, Apple had sold one million Macs, and another 10 million over the following five years. In 1991, the Macintosh Portable
12322-470: The redesign of the PowerBook series in 2000. The result, introduced in January 2001, was a completely re-designed New World PowerBook with a titanium skin and a 15.2-inch wide-aspect screen suitable for watching widescreen movies. Built with the PowerPC G4 processor, it was billed as "the first supercomputer you can actually take with you on an airplane." It was lighter than most PC based laptops, and due to
12444-426: The rest of the Apple desktop products utilizing the corporate Snow White design language incorporated into all product designs since 1986. Unlike the Macintosh Portable, however, 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 that coordinated with
12566-514: The rumors, that such a decision made sense, as Intel was failing to make significant improvements to its processors, and could not compete with ARM chips on battery life. At WWDC 2020, Tim Cook announced that the Mac would be transitioning to Apple silicon chips, built upon an ARM architecture, over a two-year timeline. The Rosetta 2 translation layer was also introduced, enabling Apple silicon Macs to run Intel apps. On November 10, 2020, Apple announced their first system-on-a-chip designed for
12688-554: The same feature set as the 17-inch model (including the backlit keyboard). This basic design would carry through the transition to the Intel-based MacBook Pro, lasting until late 2008. In April 2004, the aluminum PowerBooks were upgraded. The SuperDrive was upgraded to 4× burning speed for DVDs, the fastest processor available was upgraded to 1.5 GHz, and the graphics cards were replaced with newer models, offering up to 128 MB of video memory. A third built-in speaker
12810-483: The schematics of the Mac Portable to Sony , 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 and 170 and further benefited from improvements learned during their development. The PowerBook 100, however, did not sell well until Apple dropped the price substantially. The 100 series PowerBooks were intended to tie into
12932-546: The standard M3 chip in a refreshed iMac and a new base model MacBook Pro. Reviewers lamented the base memory configuration of 8 GB on the standard M3 MacBook Pro. In March 2024, the MacBook Air was also updated to include the M3 chip. In October 2024, several Macs were announced with the M4 series of chips, including the iMac, a redesigned Mac Mini, and the MacBook Pro; all of which included 16 GB of memory as standard. The MacBook Air
13054-476: The successful 1989 release of the Macintosh II , which appealed to power users and gave the lineup momentum. However, Gassée's "no-compromise" approach foiled Apple's first laptop , the Macintosh Portable , which has many uncommon power user features, but is almost as heavy as the original Macintosh at twice its price. Soon after its launch, Gassée was fired. Since the Mac's debut, Sculley had opposed lowering
13176-572: The unreliable Butterfly keyboard with a redesigned scissor-switch Magic Keyboard. On the MacBook Pros, the Touch Bar and Touch ID were made standard, and the Esc key was detached from the Touch Bar and returned to being a physical key. At WWDC 2019, Apple unveiled a new Mac Pro with a larger case design that allows for hardware expandability, and introduced a new expansion module system (MPX) for modules such as
13298-424: Was added to the 12-inch model for improved midrange sound. In addition, AirPort Extreme cards became standard for all PowerBooks instead of being offered as an add-on option. In January 2005, the specifications of the aluminum PowerBooks were revised once more to accompany a price decrease. Processor speeds were increased to a maximum of 1.67 GHz on the higher specification 15-inch and all 17-inch versions, while
13420-406: Was also upgraded with 16 GB for the same price. The original Macintosh was marketed at Super Bowl XVIII with the highly acclaimed "1984" ad, directed by Ridley Scott . The ad alluded to George Orwell 's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , and symbolized Apple's desire to "rescue" humanity from the conformity of computer industry giant IBM . The ad is now considered a "watershed event" and
13542-415: Was introduced alongside the Studio Display , and was meant to replace the 27-inch iMac, which was discontinued on the same day. At WWDC 2022 , Apple announced an updated MacBook Air based on a new M2 chip. It incorporates several changes from the 14-inch MacBook Pro, such as a flat, slab-shaped design, full-sized function keys, MagSafe charging, and a Liquid Retina display, with rounded corners and
13664-572: Was launched in January 1984, after Apple's "1984" advertisement during Super Bowl XVIII . A series of incrementally improved models followed, sharing the same integrated case design. In 1987, the Macintosh II brought color graphics, but priced as a professional workstation and not a personal computer. Beginning in 1994 with the Power Macintosh , the Mac transitioned from Motorola 68000 series processors to PowerPC . Macintosh clones by other manufacturers were also briefly sold afterwards. The line
13786-524: Was named as his successor. Cook's first keynote address launched iCloud , moving the digital hub from the Mac to the cloud. In 2012, the MacBook Pro was refreshed with a Retina display, and the iMac was slimmed and lost its SuperDrive . During Cook's first few years as CEO, Apple fought media criticisms that it could no longer innovate without Jobs. In 2013, Apple introduced a new cylindrical Mac Pro , with marketing chief Phil Schiller exclaiming "Can't innovate anymore, my ass!". The new model had
13908-502: Was publicly unveiled in January 2000, introducing the modern Aqua graphical user interface, and a far more stable Unix foundation, with memory protection and preemptive multitasking . Blue Box became the Classic environment , and Yellow Box was renamed Cocoa . Following a public beta , the first version of Mac OS X, version 10.0 Cheetah , was released in March 2001. In 1999, Apple launched its new "digital lifestyle" strategy of which
14030-450: Was ready to abandon Microsoft Office for Mac, which would have slashed any remaining business appeal the Mac had. Gil Amelio , Spindler's successor, failed to negotiate a deal with Gates. In 1996, Spindler was succeeded by Amelio, who searched for an established operating system to acquire or license for the foundation of a new Macintosh operating system. He considered BeOS , Solaris, Windows NT, and NeXT's NeXTSTEP , eventually choosing
14152-501: Was refreshed in 1998 with the launch of iMac G3 , reinvigorating the line's competitiveness against commodity IBM PC compatibles . Macs transitioned to Intel x86 processors by 2006 along with new sub-product lines MacBook and Mac Pro. Since 2020, Macs have transitioned to Apple silicon chips based on ARM64 . In the late 1970s, the Apple II became one of the most popular computers, especially in education. After IBM introduced
14274-456: Was replaced with the smaller and lighter PowerBook 100 , the first laptop with a palm rest and trackball in front of the keyboard. The PowerBook brought $ 1 billion of revenue within one year, and became a status symbol. By then, the Macintosh represented 10% to 15% of the personal computer market. Fearing a decline in market share, Sculley co-founded the AIM alliance with IBM and Motorola to create
14396-529: Was revealed at WWDC 2017, featuring updated Intel Xeon W processors and Radeon Pro Vega graphics. In 2018, Apple released a redesigned MacBook Air with a Retina display, Butterfly keyboard, Force Touch trackpad, and Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports. The Butterfly keyboard went through three revisions, incorporating silicone gaskets in the key mechanism to prevent keys from being jammed by dust or other particles. However, many users continued to experience reliability issues with these keyboards, leading Apple to launch
14518-449: Was revealed, featuring the M1 chip, seven new colors, thinner white bezels, a higher-resolution 1080p webcam, and an enclosure made entirely from recycled aluminum. On October 18, 2021, Apple announced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros , featuring the more powerful M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, a bezel-less mini-LED 120 Hz ProMotion display, and the return of MagSafe and HDMI ports, and
14640-479: Was stagnant. The Mac was no longer competitive, and its sales entered a tailspin. Corporations abandoned Macintosh in droves, replacing it with cheaper and more technically sophisticated Windows NT machines for which far more applications and peripherals existed. Even some Apple loyalists saw no future for the Macintosh. Once the world's second largest computer vendor after IBM, Apple's market share declined precipitously from 9.4% in 1993 to 3.1% in 1997. Bill Gates
14762-463: Was still absent from most PCs and USB 1.1 was only standardized one month after the iMac's release. He also controversially removed the floppy disk drive and replaced it with a CD drive. The iMac was unveiled in May 1998, and released in August. It was an immediate commercial success and became the fastest-selling computer in Apple's history, with 800,000 units sold before the year ended. Vindicating Jobs on
14884-501: Was the mainstay of the product line until the PowerBook 5300 . The 500 series was the first PowerBook to feature PCMCIA slots, although this was an optional feature that required the user to sacrifice one of the two available battery slots to house the PCMCIA expansion cage. The PowerBook 500 series was released as Apple was already moving its desktop machines to the PowerPC processor range, and
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