I am an unapologetic fanatic of Apple’s most colorful notebook computer, the first generation iBook (colloquially referred to as the clamshell). Everything about it exemplifies Apple’s brilliant leadership of the time including striking design, powerful performance, and some level of upgradability. These factors have led to it becoming a desirable collector among Apple enthusiasts and I’ve been lucky enough to obtain four of the five colors it came in.
Featuring a unique rounded design never seen before, or since, Apple positioned the iBook as their consumer level notebook starting in 1999 to complement the more expensive PowerBook G3. Taking inspiration from the wildly popular iMac, the original iBooks feature translucent plastic cases with either blueberry or tangerine accents while later releases would also come in indigo, graphite, and key lime. Port selection includes a 56k modem, 10/100 ethernet, one USB 1.1 port, and a combination headphone jack/composite video out. The second revision iBooks would also feature FireWire 400 for digital video transfer. Optionally available was an 802.11b Wi-Fi card, one of the first laptops to offer this feature. Finally, each iBook included a passively cooled PowerPC G3 (750) running at either 300, 366, or the elusive 466 MHz.
But that’s enough general info. I figure I should talk about my personal experience with them.
I fell in love with the iBook immediately upon seeing one for the first time. Like many others, my eyes were attracted to its striking design and I knew I wanted to have one. I was able to buy a blueberry model during my senior year of high school in 2015, however it came with a dead hard drive and I didn’t yet have the tools or knowhow to deal with the problem, so I was forced to return it. It wasn’t until I was nearly finished with college that my opportunity finally came up again. I was lucky enough to find a key lime model (my personal favorite color) for a decent price so I took a chance on it. The gamble paid off as it not only worked, but ended up being the high-end 466 MHz edition! In the years since I’ve gotten blueberry, tangerine, and graphite models leaving only the indigo out of my collection thus far.
Now, owning these laptops is one thing but maintaining them is another. As much praise as I’ve heaped upon the iBook I do have to admit their design is tragically flawed in several ways. First and most noticeably is that plastic case design. Like many computers of the era, the case plastics have proven to be extremely prone to cracking over the years. Fortunately this doesn’t affect the main body of the laptop too severely, but it is quite obvious on the screen bezel around the Apple logo as well as the clips holding the decorative bezel for the optical drive. The second main flaw is the amount of effort required to swap the storage device. The memory and AirPort card are easily accessible by flipping the keyboard up and removing two screws. The hard disk, however, taunts you by hiding just out of reach underneath the machine’s EMI shield.
The hard disk removal and replacement was something I always dreaded upon getting my iBooks, and I’ve begrudgingly become intimately familiar with the disassembly process. One must remove dozens of screws, the keyboard, the fragile top case, the entire display assembly along with its weakened plastics, the modem card, and finally the EMI shield just to even expose the hard drive. As if that wasn’t enough, its bracket is held in place by hexagonal standoffs! So much effort just to swap to more reliable storage. To this point I’ve only swapped out the hard disk on my blueberry machine, though I will have to do it again soon to swap out the logic board on the tangerine one. Sigh…
Another issue with the iBook, though not exclusive to it, is the problem of vinegar syndrome on the LCD display wherein the adhesive holding the polarizer begins to deteriorate and leave ugly streaks across the display along with an acrid acidic scent (hence the name). I did attempt to replace the polarizer on one machine which displayed this problem, and while the removal went well, I utterly failed at applying the new film correctly. Having learned my lesson, I just picked up a spare, issueless, display to swap in.
When the iBook is up and running properly, it is a fantastic machine of its time. It’s capable of running between Mac OS 8.6 up to either 10.3.9 Panther or 10.4.11 Tiger depending on the model. This also allows for the typical early 2000s experience of either dual booting classic and OS X, or utilizing the classic environment from within OS X. One of my favorite programs to try out is Connectix Virtual Game station, a commercial PlayStation emulator. It runs excellently on the clamshell from real PS1 game discs, and using a modern PlayStation controller via USB makes the experience all the more authentic. The iBook also makes for a fairly decent retro web browsing machine. Please stick to sites the poor G3 CPU can handle though! I’ve also been able to use the special edition as a portable movie player thanks to the inclusion of a DVD drive. All in all, I’m using the iBook for what Apple always intended: having fun with computing.
It may not be the most powerful or expandable Apple computer ever made, but it is one of the most innovative. From introducing wireless internet to the masses, to bringing a stylish flair to school laptops, and being one of the first latchless laptops, the iBook Clamshell continues to leave a mark on personal computing history more than 20 years after is discontinuation.