PowerBook 5300

The 5300 was Apple's first PowerPC laptop and one of its worst products. The idea was sound. A PowerPC 603e at 100 or 117MHz brought RISC performance to a portable, the case was lighter than the 500 series it replaced, and an active-matrix color screen was available. Then a battery caught fire during pre-release testing. Apple had moved to lithium ion for the better energy density, the chemistry was not ready, and the company delayed the top 5300c models and then recalled and replaced batteries across the line. The case cracked too, particularly around the hinges, and the swappable expansion bay that took a floppy, a CD-ROM or a second battery brought its own faults. Reviewers were blunt. Toshiba and IBM were shipping dependable Pentium laptops that year without setting themselves alight. The 603e itself was a good low-power chip and deserved better. Apple learned expensive lessons about new battery chemistry and new case materials, applied them to the 1400 and the 3400c, and spent years referring back to this machine internally. It belongs to the stretch of 1995 and 1996 that eventually brought Steve Jobs back.