The iBook didn’t undergo any radical transformation like its desktop brethren–no swiveling flat-panel monitor and round base here–but users who balked at the portable’s diminutive screen size will find Apple’s newly introduced model a sight for sore eyes.
Apple has released an iBook with a 14-inch TFT XGA active-matrix display. Featuring 1,024-by-768-pixel resolution, the14-inch model should be easier to read for Mac users who found the type too tiny on the iBook with the 12-inch display.
Adding a 14-inch display to the iBook makes it slightly larger than the 12-inch display model–12.7 inches wide versus 11.2 inches, and 10.2 inches deep versus 9.06 inches. The new model also weighs in at 5.9 pounds, one pound heavier than the other version. But the iBook with the 14-inch display retains the 1.35-inch thickness that has made the iBook such a popular portable.
The 14-inch display iBook features a 600MHz G3 processor, 256MB of memory, a 20GB hard drive and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive. It sells for $1,799.
Apple reshuffled the rest of its iBook line, dropping the price on its 500MHz model to $1,199. That version ships with 128MB of memory, a 15 GB hard drive, and a CD-ROM optical drive. The 600MHz iBook with a 15GB hard drive, which sold for $1,499, has been dropped. For that same price, Apple will now sell a 600MHz iBook with 128MB of RAM, 20GB of storage space, and a combo drive.