February 17, 1997: Apple launches the PowerBook 3400, a notebook that the company calls the world’s fastest laptop.
After rough years for the PowerBook, this model throws down the gauntlet to rivals. It contains a PowerPC 603e processor capable of running at up to 240 MHz. While Apple’s faster notebooks quickly overtake the PowerBook 3400, it can keep up with some impressive Mac desktops at the time.
Introducing the PowerBook 3400
Apple advertised the new PowerBook as a full-tilt “multimedia” Mac. The company said the laptop has “enough power to watch smooth, full-screen QuickTime movies (and) more than enough power to surf the World Wide Web.”
In addition to speed, the laptop had several nifty features. The hot-swappable drive position allows users to swap out the CD-ROM drive and insert the optical drive of their choice. (Options ranged from floppy to magneto-optical.) Even better, this can be done without turning off the computer or putting it to sleep.
The PowerBook 3400 was also the first Apple computer to boast PCI architecture, EDO memory, and a 64-bit wide internal bus.
“The new Apple PowerBook 3400 isn’t just the world’s fastest laptop, it just might be the best,” says Apple’s ad.
The short-lived “World’s Fastest Laptop”.
Photo: Wikipedia CC
Starting at a princely $4,500 and going up to $6,500 (the equivalent of $9,088 to $13,126 in today’s money), the PowerBook 3400 was a good machine for its time. Unfortunately, it was not long in this world. Apple discontinued it in November 1997 — less than 10 months after introducing it as the world’s largest laptop.
Like many products released soon after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997, it’s easy to see why customers were excited about the PowerBook 3400.
Cupertino was showing its best chance in recent years to become successful again. While promoting the PowerBook 3400, Apple introduced its “Think Different” advertising campaign, which encapsulated the excellent alternative approach to technology that the company embodied.
A time of transition for Apple after the return of Steve Jobs
But in reality, Steve Jobs offered minimal information about most of the products launched during his rise to the position of CEO of Apple. He was certainly involved in the later stages of the startups, but those were projects he inherited from his predecessors.
Result? Many Apple computers from the 1997 era felt like transitional pieces. They bridged Apple through the 1990s, and Jobs helped turn the company into a super-successful tech juggernaut.
Eventually, the PowerBook 3400 gave way to the PowerBook G3 family, as Apple adopted the same G3 processor for its notebooks that powered the iconic original iMac in 1998. The G3 processor also powered the iBook, Apple’s colorful clamshell notebook that arrived in 1999.
Remember the PowerBook 3400? Leave your comments below.
