2002 – 2006retired
EMac
“Built for classrooms, shaped like a friendly toaster, gone but never graded down”
“The colorful laptop with a handle, gone but still opening like a lunchbox in our hearts”
The iBook was Apple's laptop line for the entry-level consumer and education markets from 1999 to 2006, a friendlier-priced sibling to the PowerBook. The original Clamshell design, inspired by the iMac, came in bright colors with a handle built into the casing and no display latch — unlike anything before it. It was also the first mass consumer product to offer Wi-Fi, which Apple branded as AirPort.
The line evolved through three designs, going rectangular in 2002 and adding a G4 chip, USB 2.0 and a slot-loading drive in October 2003. iBooks were hugely popular in education, with Henrico County Public Schools leading the way among American school systems. On May 16, 2006, the line was discontinued, having quietly put wireless in everyone's bag — handle and all.
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“Built for classrooms, shaped like a friendly toaster, gone but never graded down”
“White plastic, big heart: the people's Mac went home smiling.”
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