Apple has finally introduced the much anticipated  
successor the company’s ill fated-5300 series
portable computers.
“The PowerBook 1400 represents the first step
in the revitalization of the entire PowerBook
line,” said Dale Fuller, vice president and
general manager of Apple’s PowerBook
division.
The PowerBook 1400 is available in four
configurations and features at least a 117MHz
PowerPC 603 e processor, a 11.3” display and an expansion
bay which accommodates either a floppy drive, a CD-ROM drive, or, in the near future, magneto optical and Zip devices. Apple will include both floppy and 6X speed CD-ROM modules in all but the base 1400 configuration. (Modules cannot be used simultaneously; therefore, to use the CD-ROM module the floppy will have to be removed.)
The new PowerBook’s keyboard flips up to provide easy access to two internal expansion bays—one for stackable RAM cards (up to 64Mbs), and one for either an Ethernet card or video out. As with the 5300 series, the PowerBook 1400s offer two PC Cards slots and infrared technology for wireless file sharing.
A welcome addition is the inclusion of a 128K Level 2 cache on the high-end 1400c/133. Unfortunately, the cache in unexpandable and cannot be added to lower-end models.
For the first time, Apple is offering owners the ability to customize the appearance of their Macs. The PowerBook 1400 includes both“PowerBook gray” and clear BookCover panels. With the clear panel installed, owners can slip in a variety of colorful BookCover inserts designed by professional artists—or design their own with included template software.
 
All PowerBook 1400s at 117MHz are expect to ship in November, with availability somewhat constrained through January as Apple reaches its full manufacturing capacity. The more robust PowerBook 1400c/133 is only expected to ship in January.
“[The 1400 is] a solid, quality product that will meet the needs of many Macintosh customers, but we’re not finished by a long shot,” continued Dale Fuller. “Expect to see Apple introduce another new series of high-performance PowerBook computers and continue to deliver new competitive features throughout the next year.”
 
 
 
 
 
Apple today revamped its Newton product line-up  
with two new devices: the MessagePad 2000, aimed at
Newton users with high-end needs; and the eMate 300,
a rugged, laptop-style Newton device designed for the
education market.
 
The MessagePad 2000 marks a substantive leap forward
for the Newton platform, packing a robust new 160MHz
StrongARM RISC processor. The chip—which is eight times faster
than the MessagePad 130’s CPU—facilitates much faster and more accurate handwriting recognition.
In addition, the Newton platform finally graduates from black and white. The new backlit display provides 16 shades of gray, and offers a 100 dpi (dots per inch), 420x320 pixel resolution, providing a larger workspace without significantly increasing the physical size of the display. The familiar spate of permanent buttons at the bottom of the display—Names, Dates, Extras, etc.—is a thing of the past. The buttons are now recreated electronically and move when the MessagePad’s display changes from portrait to landscape mode.
The new MessagePad is equipped with 8MB of ROM and 5MB of RAM (versus the 130’s 2.5MB), which will give more robust new applications space to breathe. Two PC Card slots are also standard, allowing users to have both a modem (not included) and Flash RAM card installed at the same time. It’s just as well, too—the MessagePad 2000 includes a small microphone and allows for voice notes, storing up to an hour of audio on one 4MB RAM card.
The MessagePad 2000 is equipped with Newton OS 2.1— a slightly tweaked version of the operating system that supports the 2000’s new grayscale display, voice notes and a new auto docking feature. The bundled software also includes a new spreadsheet (compatible with Excel), and a web browser which supports in-line GIFs.
Apple states that four AA alkaline batteries or a nickel-metal-hydride (NiMh) battery pack will power the MessagePad 2000 for three to six weeks on just a one-hour charge. In real world usage, however, the longevity of the batteries will depend on the use of the MessagePad’s backlighting.
The MessagePad 2000 will cost approximately $1,049 US (depending upon configuration) and is expected to be available by February of 1997.
  
Apple’s new subnotebook uses the Newton 2.1 operating
system and offers children and educators the basics: a
calculator, email, and the Newton’s standard array of
personal information management tools such as a name
file and a datebook.
The eMate 300 weighs less than four pounds and is about 12” wide by 11.4” inches long. Apple claims that the eMate’s rugged “clamshell” design—which opens to reveal the display on one side and the keyboard on the other—is fortified with reinforced ribs and a strong plastic case to prevent damage, making the eMate perfect for use almost anywhere. Apple also states that the eMate can be used for up to 28 hours before the nickel-metal-hydride battery pack requires recharging. An AC adapter is included.
Like the MessagePad 2000, the eMate 300 includes a backlit, 480x320 pixel greyscale display, an infrared port for data transmission, and can integrate with both a Mac OS and Windows compatibles. Unlike the MessagePad 2000, however, the eMate only includes a 25MHz processor, one PC Card slot and 3MB of RAM (1MB of DRAM, 2MB Flash). Apple has also omitted a web browser from the package, presumably to prevent unsupervised net surfing. (Third party browsers are available.)
The device accepts both pen and keyboard input. A speaker is built into the product, and a standard mini-headphone jack is built in to provide audio with less disruption. Backlighting is user controllable.
The eMate 300 is expected to be available to American educational customers the first quarter of 1997, for an estimated price of $800 US.
 
 
 
 
 
Hang on to your hat. Whiplash could be coming to a  
computer near you.
Exponential Technology has announced it is dev-
eloping “the world’s fastest PC microprocessor.”
The Exponential X704 will have a core clock speed
of 533MHz. That’s more than twice the clock speed of
the Power Computing PowerTower Pro 225, the
reigning speed champ.
Volume production on the X704 will begin in early 1997. According to Exponential, the X704 is compatible with all PowerPC/Macintosh applications.
The Exponential X704 is designed for power Macintosh users who “demand uncompromised performance for their high-end graphics and multimedia applications,” Satjiv Chahil, senior vice president of corporate marketing at Apple Computer Inc., said in a press release.
Apple, among others, provided financial backing for Exponential’s start-up. Also supporting Exponential are IBM and Motorola, the remaining members of the AIM alliance (a consortium of companies guiding the direction of the PowerPC platform), Power Computing Corp. and UMAX Computer Corp.
The X704, which also will be available in 500MHz and 466 MHz versions, will be priced at the $1,000 for large volume production orders.
Exponential’s home page is at: http://www.exp.com  
 
 
  
How long has it been since you could say profit and
Apple Computer Inc. in the same sentence?
In figures released October 16, Apple shocked the
financial world by reporting its net income for the
fourth fiscal quarter ending September, 27, 1996,
as $25 million or 20 cents a share. (That compares
with $60 million or 48 cents a share in the same
quarter a year ago.) Some analysts had predicted a
loss of 30 cents a share.
But if you remove the rose-colored glasses to get a clearer
look at the year-end figures, there’s just the pinkest of ink: The net loss for the year was $816 million, or a loss of $6.59 per share, compared with net income of $424 million or $3.45 per share in fiscal 1995.
Still the news of the positive fourth-quarter earnings is a glimmer of hope that someone has found a way to slow the losses.
Apple shares closed at 25 3/4, but were recently trading at 27 3/4 in late dealings.
Thanks to a restructuring charge which reduced pretax operating expenses by $28 million, the operating income for the quarter was $34 million, “a sequential improvement of $150 million from its $116 million operating loss in the June 1996 quarter,” an Apple press release said. Without the adjustment, net earnings would have been approximately $8 million, or $.06 per share.
Gil Amelio, president and chief executive officer of Apple, in a press release said, “The question before us is not ’Will Apple survive?’ but rather, ’How will Apple establish leadership in the emerging digital era of the Internet and multimedia?’
“We plan to do so with strong management, a relentless dedication to quality, and a passionate commitment to our role as industry innovator.”
Amelio said he remains confident that Apple will reach “sustainable profitability by the end of Q2’97.”
For the quarter, Apple’s revenues were $2.321 billion, a decrease of $682 million from the fourth quarter a year ago, but a sequential increase of $142 million from the quarter ended June 30, 1996.
Unit shipments for the quarter were approximately 932,000, a decline of 26 percent from the year ago quarter but a sequential increase of 11 percent from the June 1996 quarter. International revenues represented 47 percent of the quarterly total.
Apple has reduced inventories by nearly $400 million since June, Fred D. Anderson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a news release. “We continue to make progress in strengthening Apple’s financial condition, as our $410 million in positive cash flow from operations during the quarter suggests.” Anderson said that at the end of the quarter, Apple had over $1.7 billion in cash and short-term investments.
For months, Amelio has been predicting that the company will return to profitability by March. In a May 13, 1996 address, Amelio said he hoped the company can be profitable at $9 billion in revenues, $2 billion less than last year’s.
The company suspended its quarterly dividend the week of February 15, 1996, the first in the history of the company dividends have not been paid. There is no estimate when the dividends will be resumed.
 
 
 
Apple is redefining the Mac OS roadmap. This is the  
news in a letter to developers, written this week
by Apple’s Chief Technology Officer, Ellen
Hancock. In the letter, Hancock reviews the
change from a big single release of a System 8
to a model that delivers releases on a regular
basis (The first of which is the “Harmony”
release slated for January).
As previously reported, the Harmony release
will roll in many disparate elements of the Mac OS
including OpenDoc and Cyberdog. (For more details see
the MacSense Special Report on System 7.6 we present in this issue.)
System 8 fans will be pleased to know that “Copland” projects like the new kernel, I/O system and file system are still under development and will make it into a future—albeit unspecified—release of the Mac OS.
Regarding backwards compatibility, Hancock reiterated Apple’s goal of providing a robust operating system. However, compatibility will be an important priority for Apple’s Mac OS plans.
To better acquaint developers and customers with these issues Apple will be revamping its presentation of information about System 8 and OS software on the Web.
The Mac OS 8 site is at http://www.macos.apple.com/macos8/  
 
• Click on the image below to launch the November issue of MacSense.
