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· Announcement

AirPort (802.11b, "Graphite") and iBook G3

Apple announced two products on 21 July 1999: AirPort (802.11b, "Graphite") and iBook G3. The day spanned Mac and Networking.

It was the 3rd of 7 dated moments the archive holds for 1999, 72 days after the previous one, 10 May 1999.

AirPort (802.11b, "Graphite") product photograph

raneko · CC BY 2.0

What Apple announced

AirPort (802.11b, "Graphite")

Networking · AirPort · discontinued 13 November 2001

AirPort is a discontinued line of wireless routers and network cards developed by Apple Inc. using Wi-Fi protocols. In Japan, the line of products was marketed under the brand AirMac due to previous registration by I-O Data.

Apple introduced the AirPort line in 1999. Wireless cards were discontinued in 2009 following the Mac transition to Intel processors, after all of Apple's Mac products had adopted built-in Wi-Fi. Apple's line of wireless routers consisted of the AirPort Base Station (later AirPort Extreme); the AirPort Time Capsule, a variant with a built-in hard disk for automated backups; and the AirPort Express, a compact router.

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iBook G3

Mac · iBook · discontinued 13 September 2000

The iBook is a line of laptop computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from 1999 to 2006. The line targeted entry-level, consumer and education markets, with lower specifications and prices than the PowerBook, Apple's higher-end line of laptop computers. It was the first mass consumer product to offer Wi-Fi network connectivity, which was then branded by Apple as AirPort.

The iBook had three different designs during its lifetime. The first, known as the "Clamshell", was inspired by the design of Apple's popular iMac line at the time. It was a significant departure from previous portable computer designs due to its shape, bright colors, incorporation of a handle into the casing, lack of a display closing latch, lack of a hinged cover over the external ports and built-in wireless networking. Two years later, the second generation abandoned the original form factor in favor of a more conventional, rectangular design. In October 2003, the third generation was introduced, adding a PowerPC G4 chip, USB 2.0 and a slot-loading drive. iBooks were very popular in education, with Henrico County Public Schools being the first of many school systems in the United States to distribute one to every student.

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Also in 1999

Sources

  1. AirPort (802.11b, "Graphite") · Wikipedia
  2. iBook G3 · Wikipedia

Dates on this page are announcement dates, not shipping dates. Product summaries are drawn from the linked articles, and specification claims in them are the publisher’s, not independent testing. Photograph credits and licences are listed in full on the image credits page.