Apple's Macintosh PowerBook 100, which was launched in October 1991, is often seen as the laptop that brought laptop computers into the main market. Compared to its predecessor, the Macintosh Portable, the PowerBook 100 series was much more successful. The PowerBook 100 series also included the PowerBook 140 and 170. The PowerBook 100 was the first laptop which had the keyboard back towards the screen hinge, leaving space for the wrist-rest and trackball.

Priced at US$2,300, the PowerBook 100 was the low-end model of the first three simultaneously released PowerBooks. However, the PowerBook looked slightly different to the 140 and 170 models, as while they were designed by Apple, Sony designed and manufactured the PowerBook 100.

Its CPU and overall speed closely resembled those of its predecessor, the Macintosh Portable. It had a Motorola 68000 processor at 16 MHz, 2-8 megabytes (MB) of RAM, a 9-inch monochrome backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) with 640 × 400 pixel resolution, and the System 7.0.1 operating system. It did not have a built-in floppy disk drive. However, it differed greatly in size and weight. While the dimensions of the Macintosh Portable were 37.7 x 38.7 x 10.3 cm, the PowerBook 100 measured 22 x 28 x 4.6 cm. Compared to the Portable's 15.8 pounds weight, the PowerBook weighed in at only 5.1 pounds.

Due to low sales the PowerBook was discontinued in 1992. However the PowerBook line continued until 2006 when it was replaced by the MacBook Pro.

Manufacturer: Apple Computer
Date: 1992

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH63130. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

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