Product Reviews

An era has ended. Apple no longer equips any Macintosh with a G3 processor. The iBook range, the ice-white consumer-oriented laptop line, is now the iBook G4 range. The new iBook looks virtually the same as the previous line, although there are subtle cosmetic differences as well as the more technical ones. The white keys are now entirely opaque rather than slightly translucent, and the name 'iBook G4' is now emblazoned below the screen.

We ran our barrage of tests on the new entry-level 12in iBook G4 to see how it held up. The new iBook range looks like being a winner, with G4 processors running from 800MHz to 1GHz, slot-loading combo drives and sensible levels of RAM. The 12in model we tested was particularly attractive; the compact design makes it an extremely portable device.

The specifications are pretty good, especially considering the price. For the £723 (£849 inc VAT) that the 12in model costs you get an 800MHz G4 processor, 256Mb of RAM, and a slot-loading combo (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) drive. The hard disk is not quite as impressive, as it's a 30Gb device. The system bus is 133MHz and the processor has 256K of level 2 cache. By comparison, the least expensive PowerBook G4 costs £1105 and has a 12in screen, 1GHz G4 processor, 256Mb RAM, 133MHz system bus, 40Gb hard drive, and 512K of level 2 cache. The 15in 1GHz PowerBook costs £1360 and improves on the 12in device by increasing system bus speed to 167MHz and hard drive size to 60Gb. You can see how the new iBook compares to this PowerBook and the 1.25GHz 15in PowerBook in our speed test results box.

Slot machine

The slot-loading drive sits in the same right-hand position as the tray device did in the previous line, with all the ports lined up along the left. The single FireWire port is still the standard FireWire 400 format, so existing peripherals will work as before. The USB ports are now USB 2.0; compatible with slow USB devices but also able to handle high-speed USB products. The Ethernet port and modem are the same as before; 10/100base-T

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and a full-speed V.92.

The graphics performance was fairly good, although no match for desktops or even the PowerBook G4 range. The ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 is a fairly respectable choice, and the 32Mb of video memory coped well with demanding 3D games on the screen's 1024 x 768 pixel display.

The software bundle includes packages which should prove very useful for most buyers. AppleWorks may be overdue a makeover, but it does provide compatibility with Microsoft Office files. Felt Tip Sound Studio provides excellent audio editing tools, while World Book 2003 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 should be of interest to parents and kids respectively. There's also the 'iLife suite' (iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie, although not iDVD) and all the software that comes as standard with Mac OS X 10.3. There's nothing jaw-dropping in the selection, but it is certainly more than enough for people to be able to be productive and have fun straight away. For a consumer-oriented product that's important.

Get to the AirPort

Although we weren't able to put the iBook through a particularly extended period of use, we did push it hard for an hour to see how warm it became. There was an area in the base which did become noticeably warm, but it never got uncomfortable; good news for laps. The battery life is claimed to be up to six hours, and from our calculations this sounds about right - although heavy use of the optical drive will drain the battery more quickly.

The iBook's wireless options are AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth, neither of which are installed by default. The AirPort Extreme upgrade is something that can be done at any time, and very easily too by lifting the keyboard out of its recess. However, the Apple Bluetooth module must be specified at the time of purchase as it isn't offered as an upgrade option for later on, whether by the end user or authorised engineer. This is in line with the Apple Bluetooth option offered for the iMac and Power Mac G4 range, but we can only hope that future product designs allow for more flexible Bluetooth installation.

If you were wavering between an iBook or a PowerBook, the key difference - the G3 processor - no longer exists. Now your decision will revolve around more specific features and abilities, such as whether you need a SuperDrive or the ability to run an external monitor as an extra display as opposed to just mirroring the screen. The iBook range won't suit everyone, but the model we saw certainly impressed us. True, it has the slowest processor of the lot, but it's compact, full of great features and has an impressively low price.