During a semi-annual meeting for financial analysts today, Apple vice president of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller confirmed that the company’s new PowerBook G4 is shipping. This fact has been confirmed by retailers who have been in contact with MacCentral, as well. Apple has been delivering PowerBooks to suppliers since this Monday.
The new PowerBook G4 was first introduced to crowds at Macworld Expo in San Francisco earlier this month. The stylish and striking new PowerBook features a case made out of titanium and a wide design that accommodates a 15.2 inch screen capable of a native resolution of 1152×768 pixels.
Schiller’s presentation to analysts mostly mirrored Steve Jobs’ own keynote presentation at Macworld Expo. Schiller compared the PowerBook to Sony’s popular VAIO PC-compatible laptop computer, a thin and light PC-compatible subnotebook. Schiller pointed out that while the VAIO weighs less than the PowerBook G4, the PowerBook G4 comes with a battery that should last up to five hours, and comes much more fully equipped.
Apple’s Web site notes that the PowerBook G4 is thinner (1 inch thick, compared with the VAIO’s 1.15 inches); sports support for Apple’s AirPort wireless networking; and includes an internal DVD-ROM drive. The PowerBook G4 also features a 15.2 inch screen, compared with the VAIO Z505 model’s 12.1 inch display.
The first PowerBook to feature the G4 moniker, the system comes in both 400 and 500 MHz variants, with a 100MHz system bus and hard drive storage up to 30GB. The low-end PowerBook G4 is available for US$2599, while the faster model retails for $3499. More details are available from Apple’s Web site at the link above.