Guide To P1 Features

- 1999.02.24

Apple's upcoming consumer portable, code-named P1, fills the missing "fourth box" of Apple's systems portfolio. The P1 is still about 3 months from its expected introduction, but it has been generating a lot of buzz since early December. Although no details have been confirmed, many Mac experts and people familiar with Mac technological progress have predicted what the P1 will be like. This guide is designed to help you know what to expect.

These illustrations show what the P1 may look like.

Expected Features of the P1

Processor: Daughtercard 300 MHz PowerPC G3, probably 66 MHz or 75 MHz system bus, 512 KB backside cache*
RAM: 32 MB expandable to 320 MB (probably higher maximum when higher density SDRAM become available)
Hard Disk: 2-6GB
Media Bay: 20x CD-ROM, likely a 4x DVD option if software MPEG-2 decoding is introduced with QuickTime 4
Ports: 1-2 USB, 56k modem may use PCMCIA technology to make the modem card smaller, 10/100 Ethernet, wireless modem probably an option (if available at all)
Screen: About 11.5 inches, may be active or passive matrix, 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 with 24 bit color, uses ATI Portable Rage Pro (64 bit) or 128 (128 bit)** with 4 MB of VRAM
OS: Full OS 8.6
Battery: Lithium-Ion with built-in Bay-Gen Freeplay wind-up generator/charger to extend the charge of the battery***
ROM: New World Open Firmware Net-Bootable (ROM in RAM)
Case: Translucent and rugged with appearance resembling PowerBook G3 series, eMate, and iMac
Dimensions/Weight: Almost 1" narrower, 3/4" shorter and about 1/3 thinner than the PowerBook 2400, weighs less than 4 pounds with AC adapter, CD-ROM and battery
Price: $,1200-1,500

* A stripped down version of the P1 would probably lack a cache.

** Both are pin-compatible, so if it comes with the Rage Pro, an upgrade to the 128 would be easy and inexpensive.

*** This uses a clock spring mechanism that unwinds to power a generator/charger connected to the battery. Bay-Gen also makes wind up radios and flashlights.

Rumored features not expected to be included

Touch screen with stylus and screen that folds all the way over to make an electronic tablet. Judged too expensive, especially with the (relatively) large screen size.
IrDA port. Omitted from Revision C iMac and new G3 (Yosemite), and probably won't show up on the 101 (Lombard). Therefore, the P1 would have few other computers to connect to. May have been a cost-cutting measure (as it may have been on those other Macs).
Built-in FireWire. Will probably be optional on a CardBus card. Because most users won't need FireWire (at least at release time).
"Lite" OS 8.6. Reason unsure, might have been: because previous "lite OS" computers (i.e. Newton, eMate) sold poorly, to reduce costs, or because of compatibility problems with OS X.

Some information from MacOS Rumors, O'Grady's PowerPage, and The PowerBook Zone.

Join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, use our Google+ page, or read our RSS news feed

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Centris 650, introduced 1993.02.10. The replacement for the Quadra 700 has room for an internal CD-ROM.
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2013 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.