Apple plans to ship its new consumer portable, the iBook, in September for $1,599. It uses a 300-MHz G3 CPU, 32 MB of memory, expandable to 160 MB, weighs 6.7 pounds and features a full-size keyboard and trackpad. Its translucent polycarbonate case is partially covered by either tangerine or blueberry rubber. Its 12.1-inch TFT active-matrix screen displays millions of colors at 800 x 600 pixels. It has a 3.2 GB hard drive and 24x CD-ROM drive, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, a USB port, and a 56k internal modem. One exciting option is a $99 AirPort card that wirelessly transfers data within 150 feet to and from other iBooks or a $299 AirPort base. AirPort uses radio waves, and so does not require line-of-sight connection. The AirPort base includes a 56k modem and a 10/100Base-T Ethernet jack that you can use to connect to an existing Ethernet network or Mac. AirPort-compatible cards will soon be available from Farallon, enabling PowerBooks to communicate with iBooks and AirPort bases as well.
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