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Is there any hope in understanding the 90s PowerBook lineup?

Maybe. Here's a simple explaination of each model. If they all seem very similar, that's because they are.

Disclaimer: No one can seem to agree on when some of these models were introduced. Due to this, I cannot guarantee that all of the release dates mentioned below are 100% accurate.

100 Series

Apple's first series of PowerBooks.

Initial 3 Models: 100, 140, 170.

100 - Designed largely by Sony, design differs from other 100 series. No built in floppy drive. Based on the Portable's design. Uses a lead acid battery.

140 - Uses standard 100 series design. Black and white passive-matrix display, 16MHz 030 CPU.

170 - 25MHz processor and an active-matrix black and white display.


August 1992 Refresh - 145 introduced.

25MHz 68030, passive-matrix black and white display.


October 1992 Refresh - 160 and 180 introduced.

160 - 25MHz 68030, Passive-Matrix grayscale display, added video out port (All future 100 series models have this unless stated otherwise).

180 - 33MHz 68030, Active-Matrix grayscale display.


February 1993 - 165c Introduced.

First color PowerBook, with a passive-matrix color display. 33MHz 68030.


June 1993 - 145b and 180c Introduced.

145b - 145, but with 2 extra MB of RAM soldered to the board. Effectively the same system as the 145. (No video out)

180c - 33MHz 68030, Active-Matrix color display.


August 1993 - 165 Introduced.

33MHz 68030, passive-matrix grayscale display.


July 1994 - 150 Introduced.

Introduced as the rest of the series was discontinued. Missing ADB, video out, and headphone jack. Passive-matrix grayscale display. Can take much more RAM than the other 100 series laptops.



PowerBook Duo

Apple's subnotebook lineup. It had few internal ports, but was able to be hooked up to many docking stations to expand the system's capabilities.

October 1992 - Initial 2 Models - 210, 230.

210 - Passive-Matrix grayscale display. 25MHz 68030.

230 - Passive-Matrix grayscale display, 33MHz 68030.


October 1993 - 250 and 270c Introduced, 210 killed.

250 - 33MHz 68030, Active-Matrix grayscale display..

270c - 33MHz 68030, Active-Matrix color display. First color duo.


May 1994 Refresh - 280 and 280c Introduced, 250 and 270c discontinued.

280 - First duo with a 68LC040. Clocked at 33MHz. Active-Matrix grayscale display.

280c - 33MHz 68LC040, Active-Matrix color display.


August 1995 - 2300c Introduced.

Now has a PowerPC 603e @100MHz. Only PowerPC Duo, and the last duo. Active-Matrix color display.



500 Series

Apple's series of mainstream PowerBooks with 68040 processors.


May 1994 - Main models introduced. 520, 520c, 540, 540c.

520 - 25MHz 68LC040, Passive-Matrix grayscale display.

520c - 25MHz 68LC040, Passive-Matrix color display.

540 - CPU speed bumped to 33MHz, Active-Matrix grayscale display.

540c - 33MHz 68LC040, Active-Matrix color display.


May 1995 - 550c Introduced, Japan Exclusive.

Everything the 540c had, but with darker case plastics, a full 68040 with FPU, and a larger screen. Pretty rare and only released in Japan.



190/5300 Series

Apple's first PowerBooks with PowerPC processors. Oh, and the 190 which shares the same design as the 5300, but with 68LC040 CPUs instead.


August 1995 - 190, 190cs, 5300, 5300cs, 5300c, and 5300ce introduced.

5300 - PowerPC 603e @100MHz, new design, passive-matrix grayscale display.

5300cs - PowerPC 603e @100MHz, passive-matrix color display.

5300c - PowerPC 603e @100MHz, active-matrix color display.

5300ce - PowerPC 603e @117MHz, higher resolution active-matrix color display @800x600 instead of 640x480.

190 - Same external design as the 5300s, but with a different board design with a 68LC040 Instead.

190cs - Same as the 190, but with the passive-matrix color display of the 5300cs.



Page last updated (MM/DD/YYYY): 04/20/2024
Update Reason: added newnav

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