PowerBook 1400

Following the troubled launch of the PowerBook 5300 in August 1995, Apple sought to bring a new PowerBook to market on a shorter development schedule. Phil Baker, Apple's director of entry-level laptops, contracted Quanta Computer, an original design manufacturer, to modify one of its pre-existing notebook designs to become the 1400.^[1] Minimal changes were made to the exterior to align it with Apple's design language, while Quanta adapted the 5300's architecture for the new computer.^[2]

The design gave the PowerBook 1400 an expansion bay large enough for a CD-ROM drive, a first for a PowerBook. The bay also accepted a floppy drive or Zip drive. The drives could be "warm swapped" while the computer was in sleep mode.^[3]

However the reuse of the architecture of the 5300 meant that it retained constraints of the earlier design, including the 117 MHz PowerPC 603e processor without an L2 cache and a 64 MB memory limit.^[2][3]

The PowerBook 1400 used removable "BookCover" panels, a feature Apple marketed to home users and students.^[3] Each computer included a gray panel matching the computer's case and a clear panel.^[4] Users could create custom inserts with a bundled template and place them beneath the clear panel.^[5]

The PowerBook 1400 had two PC Card slots, infrared communications, and an internal expansion slot for video-out or Ethernet cards.^[6]

Apple initially offered the PowerBook 1400 with a 117 MHz PowerPC 603e processor. It added a 133 MHz model in May 1997 and a 166 MHz model in July 1997. While the 117 MHz model lacked an L2 cache; the 133 MHz and 166 MHz models included a 128 KB L2 cache.^[7]

Each version was available as a 1400c, with an active matrix LCD, or a 1400cs, with a passive-matrix dual-scan LCD. Both used 11.3-inch (290 mm) color displays with an 800 × 600 resolution.^[8]

The initial 1400cs configuration included a 750 MB hard drive and 12 MB of RAM, without a CD-ROM drive, at a price of US$2,499 (equivalent to $5,100 in 2025). An additional 4 MB of RAM soldered to the motherboard and a CD-ROM drive could be added to the 1400cs for US$400 (equivalent to $820 in 2025).^[7] The 1400c included a 1 GB hard drive, 16 MB of RAM, and a CD-ROM drive, and sold for US$3,499 (equivalent to $7,200 in 2025).^[3]

In a contemporary review, Macworld noted the PowerBook 1400's expansion-bay CD-ROM drive, display, keyboard, and trackpad, while criticizing the 117 MHz model's lack of an L2 cache.^[9]

MacUser described the 1400 as a reliable basic portable. The review praised its price, configuration range, display, CD-ROM drive, and BookCover panels, while finding its performance unremarkable.^[3]

According to Apple, all of these models are obsolete.^[a][10]