CUPERTINO, California—October 16, 2001—Apple today enhanced its popular iBook line of consumer and education notebooks with faster PowerPC G3 processors up to 600 MHz, a new system bus running up to 100 MHz, larger hard drives up to 20GB and now 128MB of RAM standard across the line. The new iBooks are priced starting at $1,299, and the popular top-of-the-line model featuring a DVD-ROM/CD-RW “Combo” drive is now priced $100 lower at $1,699. The new iBooks now include both the new Mac OS X version 10.1 and Mac OS 9.2.1 pre-installed. “The iBook is Apple’s best selling portable ever,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior director of Hardware Product Marketing. “Now available with more speed, more storage and more memory, the new iBooks are an incredible value starting at just $1,299.” Powered by a fast 500 MHz or 600 MHz PowerPC G3 processor, all iBook models now offer 128MB of SDRAM. For additional performance, the 600 MHz iBook includes a 100 MHz system bus. Featuring either a 15GB or 20GB hard drive, iBook customers can choose from a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or DVD-ROM/CD-RW “Combo” drive for both burning CDs and watching movies on DVDs. The iBook line offers an impressive set of features in every model, including: * an impact resistant polycarbonate enclosure; * a crisp 12.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix 1024-by-768 resolution TFT XGA display; * new 600 MHz or 500 MHz PowerPC G3 processors with 256K level 2 cache; * new 128MB SDRAM standard, with expansion up to 640MB; * ATI Rage Mobility 128 graphics controller with 8MB RAM and AGP 2X; * 15GB or 20GB Ultra ATA hard drives; * AirPort-ready with integrated antennas and card slot for wireless Internet access; * USB and FireWire ports; * VGA video out and composite video out with optional Apple AV cable; * built-in 56K modem and 10/100BASE-T Ethernet; * built-in microphone and stereo speakers; * iTunes™ MP3 digital “jukebox” software and iMovie™ 2 digital video editing software; * new Mac OS X v10.1, Apple’s next-generation operating system pre-installed, as well as Classic Mac OS 9.2.1; * a new small, lightweight power adapter; and * free 30-day Internet access with EarthLink. Pricing and Availability The new iBook is available immediately from The Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers and in three standard configurations: * iBook 500 MHz, at a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US), includes a 15GB Ultra ATA hard drive and CD-ROM drive; * iBook 600 MHz, at a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes a 15GB Ultra ATA hard drive and DVD-ROM drive; and * iBook 600 MHz, at a suggested retail price of $1,699 (US), includes a 20GB Ultra ATA hard drive and DVD-ROM/CD-RW “Combo” drive.