Mac and iPod History: 2001

At Macworld Expo in January 2001, Steve Jobs unveiled the first Macs to break the 500 MHz mark. The 'Digital Audio' Power Mac G4 moved to a 133 MHz system bus. CPU speeds of 466 and 533 MHz were immediately available; the 667 and 733 MHz models would be out in a month or so.

These Power Macs used new versions of the G4 processor: the 7410 low power CPU in the slower models and the high performance 7450 in the faster ones. They also had one more PCI slot than earlier AGP Power Macs (at the cost of one bank of memory - 1.5 GB was the maximum RAM in the Digital Audio models), and all but the slowest model shipped from the factory with nVidia GeForce2 MX graphics cards in the 4x AGP slot.

Jobs also announced the first DVD burning solution for under $5,000 - the G4/733 includes a SuperDrive that can read and write various CD and DVD formats, including DVD-R, which can be played back in consumer DVD players. Apple's iDVD software, included with the SuperDrive, made creating DVDs a simple process.

In other software news, iTunes 1.0 was released.

Speed is nice, but for a lot of Mac users the high point of the Expo was the new titanium PowerBook G4 (quickly nicknamed the TiBook). Just one inch thick, the 5.3 pound TiBook included a "mega-wide" 1152 x 768 pixel screen. The new PowerBook was available for order immediately and began shipping by the end of January. Available in 400 and 500 MHz speeds, the TiBook has room for up to 1 GB of RAM.

Jobs also announced that Mac OS X would be available on March 24 - and would come installed on new Macs beginning in July.

Flower What?

Apple dropped the next bombshell in February, speed-bumping the iMac from 350-500 MHz in 50 MHz steps to a trio of models at 400, 500, and 600 MHz. The top two models included CD-RW drives and two new color schemes: Flower Power and Blue Dalmatian. Throughout the industry, the question was, "What is Apple thinking?"

February also saw the Power Mac G4 start shipping in 667 and 733 MHz configurations.

Mac OS X

After years and years of waiting for a "next generation" operating system, Apple shipped Mac OS X on March 24. The introduction of OS X 10.1 on Sept. 25 marked a big improvement in performance and the reintroduction of some "classic" Mac feature. By the end of the year, OS X had been further updated to version 10.1.2.

New iBooks

On May 1, Steve Jobs unveiled the 2001 iBook, which became available mid-May. The new iBook is nearly 2 pounds lighter, measurably smaller, and $200 less expensive than the older clamshell models - all this while bumping speed to 500 MHz, putting 1024 x 768 pixels on a 12.1" screen, and giving the consumer four different optical drive options: CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, and a "combo" CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive.

The new iBook comes in one speed and one color. The only feature missing compared with the old model is the handle, but it gains a second (and much needed) USB port. At under five pounds, the missing handle doesn't seem to matter too much.

New Power Macs

Apple introduced a new look for the Power Mac G4 with the release of the 'Quicksilver' models on July 18. The new Power Macs reached a new level of power with an 867 MHz single CPU model and an 800 MHz dual G4 machine.

More New 'Books

On October 16, Apple bumped the "iceBook" to 600 MHz, although it left one 500 MHz CD-ROM model in the line as an entry-level machine. Apple also replaced the Titanium G4 with two new versions - one at 550 MHz and the other running at an impressive 667 MHz. These models received one more improvement in December when Apple made the DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive standard.

Enter the iPod

Apple promoted a special October 23 unveiling as "Not Macintosh", and hardly anyone had a clue that Apple would introduce a device that would propel them to the top spot in a market where Apple had no experience whatsoever.

The first iPod stored 1,000 songs on a tiny 5 GB hard drive in a device that fit into your pocket, and Mac users didn't quite know what to make of it. It was most definitely not Macintosh, and it integrated perfectly with Apple's iTunes software.

Over time the iPod took the industry by storm, and Windows support would be a big part of that equation. But that's a story for another year.