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Classic Macs in the Intel Age

The Macintosh Portable Started a Notebook Revolution

- 2008.07.03 - Tip Jar

Some modern things we just take for granted, like a stove, an oven, or a TV.

We sometimes also take laptop computers for granted. Nowadays you can buy them dirt cheap at your local Best Buy or Walmart.

But a lot of times we forget what started it all: It was Apple and the Macintosh Portable. Sure, there were laptops before the Mac Portable, but they were ugly, slow, and not user-friendly.

The Macintosh Portable

Apple decided to get into the portable market and save notebook users from certain death caused by text-based MS-DOS. On September 20, 1989, the Macintosh Portable was unveiled at a suggested retail price of US$6,500. It wasn't a beauty queen at 16 lb., but it was a Mac (i.e., user-friendly).

And it was fast.

It had a whopping 16 MHz 68000 CPU, making it twice as fast as the Macintosh SE, and it matched the Mac IIcx on some benchmarks! The Portable shipped with 1 MB of RAM (expandable to 9 MB) and an optional 20 MB hard drive.

Just imagine that back in 1989, when Windows 2.1 was considered state of the art.

Compaq LTE 386 The main competitor was the nearly 7 lb. Compaq LTE family of notebooks, running various editions of MS-DOS on its CGA display and shipping with a 500-page book that told you how to change directories, delete a file, open the word processor - and how you must let the RAM check on POST pass without canceling "or your motherboard and/or Random Access Memory card may be permanently damaged and you will have to contact Compaq, Inc. blah, blah".

How easy is that for someone who has never used a computer before?

The Macintosh Portable was as user-friendly as any Mac, and you could take it with you.

As the title of this article suggests, this 16-pound baby started a revolution. Two years later, on October 21, 1991, the first PowerBooks were unveiled. These babies were slim. They were nothing like the Compaq LTE.

In 2001, the Titanium PowerBook G4 was introduced, setting a whole new standard for portable computing. It had a blazing-fast 400 MHz or 500 MHz PowerPC G4 processor and was a hell of a lot faster than any Wintel notebook.

In 2003, the iBook G4s were introduced. Just like the TiBook before them, these 'Books set a whole new standard, this time in consumer notebooks.

And now, in 2008, the 2.6 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro has been introduced.

Mac Portable and PowerBook 100 This was all thanks to the Macintosh Portable. The PowerBook brand spun off from the Portable. The PowerBook 100 is basically a Portable in miniature - Apple hired Sony to make the components small enough to fit in a regular notebook case. (If you don't believe me, install System 6.08L on your PB 100: It will be identified as a Macintosh Portable.)

In 1999, the iBook brand spun off from PowerBook as a line of affordable consumer notebooks. The MacBook brand replaced the iBook when Apple moved to Intel processors (it is also considered the replacement of the 12" PowerBook). And finally, the MacBook Pro brand replaced the PowerBook brand as Apple's top-of-the-line notebooks.

What if Apple had never created the Portable? Compaq's notebooks would still be 1980s white, Acer's notebooks would still be stuck on that black and silver color scheme, and Dell probably wouldn't exist. And notebooks would never have become standard for many people. The OLPC project might never have existed if Apple hadn't started this revolution.

On Thursday, I will pick up a huge load of old Macs, including some Power Computing models, LCs, and a Macintosh Portable. Those Macs will probably become columns here - so stay tuned.

If you find Carl's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Columns by Carl Nygren

Is Wirecard a Real Alternative to PayPal?, 08.07. PayPal has an established worldwide presence, but Wirecard is offered by a real bank and has lower fees. Any drawbacks?
Is Windows XP better than Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger'?, 07.28. Vista is a bust, and Leopard won't run on G3 Macs. How do legacy G3 and G4 Macs with Tiger compare with a fairly modern 2 GHz PC running Windows XP?
Bringing a 233 MHz iMac into the Mac OS X age, 07.15. Upgraded with 128 MB additional RAM and a larger hard drive, the iMacs was ready for Mac OS X 10.2 'Jaguar' - and runs it very nicely.
Upgrading your eMac for better gaming and hi-res video performance, 07.11. This eMac started out with too little RAM and not enough hard drive space. With several upgrades, it plays games quite well and handles HD video content nicely.
More in the Classic Macs in the Intel Age index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: iMac Core Duo, Jan. 2006 - The first Intel-based iMacs ran at 1.83-2.0 GHz, came with 17" and 20" displays.
Group of the Day: Mac Pro List is for those using a Mac Pro.
November 23 in LEM history: 99: Should I buy a USB card? - 01: Can a low-end Mac be an only Mac? - Palm Desktop without a PDA - CyberDog saves the day - 05: How Consumer Reports could compare Macs fairly - Speakers for your Mac - Living with the hi-res 15" PowerBook - Birth of the PowerBook - Daystar 1.9 GHz iMac G4 upgrade - 1.92 GHz PowerBook upgrade
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Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
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