Apple intros new iBooks, PowerBooks: Up to 1.5 GHz, AirPort Extreme in every PowerBook

Apple has introduced a "new line" of PowerBooks and a refreshed series of iBooks.

The new PowerBooks are available in the following configurations/price points:

The 1.33 GHz, 12-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $1,599 (US), includes:

• a Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive;
• 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM;
• AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth;
• DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support;
• two USB 2.0 ports and FireWire® 400; and
• a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive.

The 1.33 GHz, 12-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of US$1,799, includes:

• same as above with 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive;

The 1.33 GHz, 15-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of US$1,999, includes:

• a Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive;
• 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM;
• AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth;
• DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support;
• Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T);
• two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800; and
• a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive.

The 1.5 GHz, 15-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of US$2,499, includes:

• same as above with a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive; and
• 512MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM;
• a Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor; and
• a 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive.

The 1.5 GHz, 17-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of US$2,799, includes:

• a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive;
• 512MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM;
• AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth;
• DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support;
• Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T);
• two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800;
• a Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor; and
• a 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive.

The 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 now offer the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700. The new 12-inch PowerBook G4 features the NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 graphics with 64MB of dedicated video memory.

The new 12- and 15-inch PowerBook G4 models are available immediately, and the new 17-inch PowerBook G4 is expected to be available in early May.

Updated iBooks are available in the following configurations/price points:

1.0 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook: US$1,099 includes:

• 12.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display;
• 256MB DDR SDRAM expandable to up to 1.25GB maximum memory;
• a 30GB Ultra ATA hard drive;
• two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400;
• VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support;
• Ethernet (10/100BASE-T); and
• a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive.

The 1.0 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook: US$1,299 includes:

• same as above with 14.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display; and
• a 40GB Ultra ATA hard drive;

The 1.2 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook: US$1,499 includes:

• same as above with a 60GB Ultra ATA hard drive; and
• AirPort Extreme wireless networking built-in

Additionally, the 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) is now available as a build-to-order option for the iBook.

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