Apple iBook 12-inch 1.2GHz

Overview

Apple Computers are known for their elegant design, innovation, and relative ease-of-use. But with those competencies, it comes at a cost. The cheapest PowerBook starts at $1,599 for the 12-inch model. While that may be steep to most consumers considering the aggressive lower price offerings from a PC laptop, Apple managed to stay competitive in the budget end with the iBook line.

When the iBook was initially released, it was slow in performance and behind in features compared to the PowerBook. This year, Apple decided to increase the iBooks' performance and features while maintaining a low price tag. The new Apple iBook now comes in two display sizes, the smaller 12-inch and larger 14-inch; offering a slot-loading CD, combo CD-RW/DVD, or SuperDrive DVD-R burning drive (14-inch only), PowerPC G4 processors running at 1.2GHz or 1.33GHz, and integrated Airport Extreme 802.11b/g Wi-Fi starting at an affordable $999.

The iBook line is an Apple entry-level notebook computer, targeted towards the price conscious consumers such as students and home users. The new 12-inch iBook is a lightweight all-in-one consumer laptop that retains Apple's trademark elegant design and fully loaded with all the features and power one would need for homework, browsing the web wirelessly, watching DVDs, and creating video or music.

Design

Portability
Looking at the iBook 12-inch computer from above while the display is closed, it looks almost like a perfect square with an Apple logo in the center. Not quite a perfect square, its dimensions resembles more like a textbook, as the iBook is 11.2 inches wide, 9.1 inches long and 1.35 inches thick. Apple considers the iBook the lightest all-in-one consumer notebook on the market, weighing in at a mere 4.9 pounds. You can argue that claim by considering the IBM ThinkPad T42, which also weighs 4.9 pounds and offers similar if not more features than the iBook 12-inch. In any case, the iBook 12-inch is very portable, light enough to carry around for long durations and its compact size allows you to fit it in virtually any laptop carrying case or backpack. I carried around the iBook computer to my old college campus and I was pleasantly surprised on how light it felt in my backpack (I suppose the other reason was I didn't have to carry textbooks along with the iBook).

Case and Design Layout
The white case surrounding the iBook appears very elegant. The rounded edges, white shiny polished case presents a clean and simple design. The iBook is designed to be durable, being able to resist impact from lugging it around. The top lid and bottom case is made from polycarbonate plastic, which is the same high-grade material used in bulletproof glass. Inside, the frame is made from magnesium, strengthening the iBook even more. This allows the iBook to be tucked into a backpack or carrying case along with the rest of your books without worrying about damaging the screen. However, the surface does seem it can be easily scratched.

The LCD is held on by a thick plastic hinge that feels a bit tight when opening and closing the display. Below the hinge, there is a vent to exhaust the heat in the rear.

Rear

Hinge and Vents

The screen hovers slightly over the keyboard when latched with 2 small circular rubber feet keeping the screen from touching the keyboard.

Front

When the iBook is in sleep mode, the sleep indicator located next to the display release button pulsates a white light.

Sleep indicator

With the display opened, the Apple logo in the rear illuminates a white light.

Apple logo and Apple logo glows in the dark

The full-size keyboard consists of 12 function keys, 4 arrow keys, and incorporates the numeric keypad in the right-center of the keyboard. The convenient function keys allow you to control the brightness, volume, and to eject the disc from the slot-loading drive. The keys are positioned comfortably for me, but feel light and flimsy when typing; almost feels cheap. The keys exhibit a fairly loud noise while typing, and it doesn't sound too pleasant either. The iBook's keyboard just isn't solid as the keyboard from the PowerBook, which feels more comfortable and sounds more pleasant to type with.

The trackpad supports double-tapping and drag capabilities, a convenient feature to have instead of pressing the touchpad button. The trackpad is sensitive to my finger, and moves the cursor accurately on screen. There is only one button for the touchpad, which is inconvenient if you need to 'right-click'. Instead, you must hold down the CTRL key and then push the touchpad button in order to bring up the options menu. Similar to the loud noise the keyboard makes when typing, the touchpad button creates a loud noise when clicking as well.

Design Continued

The ports are easily accessible on the left side and the slot-loading drive is located on the right side. This is convenient since I don't have to turn the iBook around to the back side in order to connect a device. I can simply just plug in my device in the ports located on the left side. Another benefit is the iBook does not have any protruding doors so you don't have to worry about breaking or snapping anything off when carrying it around.

Left-side

Right-side

In addition to the vents in the rear (below the latch), there are also vents located on the left side to dispense the heat. The iBook was nearly silent the majority of the time I used it, even when the processor was set to full performance. After a short use, the iBook felt warm underneath but even after extensive use it became slightly warmer and still operated relatively quiet.

Upgrading
You can enhance the performance by increasing memory to a maximum of 1.25GB at a speed of 266MHz or PC2100 (DDR266). The iBook computer comes with 256MB of DDR SDRAM PC2100 already installed on the motherboard. There is one memory slot that can be accessed by removing the keyboard. Simply slide the two plastic tabs located on the keyboard to unlock it. You can also replace or remove the Airport Extreme card in the same area as well. Replacing the hard drive is more complicated, as it requires you to disassemble the entire laptop apart.

Features

Processor
The iBook 12-inch computer is powered by the PowerPC G4 processor clocked at 1.2GHz with Velocity Engine and 512K L2 cache on 133MHz system bus. This is a big improvement over the slower G3 processor from the previous iBook generation. The system bus for the PowerBook line is a faster 167MHz. This affects the speed performance since it directly affects the memory performance and bandwidth. The iBook performs fairly decent and 'snappy' with most applications, such as iTunes, Microsoft Office 2004, and Safari web browser. In addition, OS X can handle multi-tasking better than Windows. Apple offers the faster G4 1.33GHz in the iBook 14-inch model.

By accessing the Energy Saver in the operating system, the G4 processor can be set to run at the highest performance (1.2GHz), or reduced performance to conserve more energy. The third option is to set the processor performance to automatic (runs at reduced speeds initially), which allows the computer to automatically switch back and forth between the highest and reduced settings in order to optimize energy use, depending on the applications' demand. I always set the performance to highest when I connect the AC adapter to my iBook. The best way to maximize battery operating time is to set the processor to either automatic or reduced when using the battery.

GPU
The ATI Mobility RADEON 9200 with 32MB DDR SDRAM powers the graphics processing. The ATI RADEON 9200 supports AGP 4X and multi-display support and features SMARTSHADER, SMOOTHVISION, and more while consuming less power. In fact, the RADEON 9200 dynamically adjusts the power consumption based on user activity.

Warcraft 3

This RADEON 9200 is capable in handling most games such as Quake 3 and Warcraft 3. I was impressed on how smooth both games ran. In terms of the visual quality, the graphics were stunning as I couldn't differentiate the graphics displayed between the RADEON 9700 in the PowerBook 17-inch 1.5GHz and the RADEON 9200 in the iBook.

Display
The 12-inch XGA LCD screen offers 1024 x 768 pixel resolution. Overall, the screen is sharp and the colors are vivid, thanks to the RADEON 9200 and the GUI of Mac OS X. The screen brightness can be adjusted with the function key, with a total of 16 brightness settings (1 being the lowest and 16 being the brightest). Setting the screen brightness from 8 through 16 is sufficient and enjoyable for my viewing but still isn't as bright as the display from the Sony VAIO with XBRITE technology.

The viewing angle is decent as the color and brightness shifts noticeably when viewing the screen from vertical and horizontal angles. The iBook doesn't come close to the wide viewing angle offered on the PowerBook 17-inch but provides better viewing angle than the display on the IBM ThinkPad T42 14-inch XGA.

To test DVD playback, I played Spiderman 2 and overall it ran smooth as silk. Color and images displayed brilliantly. The pixel-refresh rate is quite fast as I did not encounter any ghosting effects while watching Spiderman 2. Even better, quickly scrolling through a webpage full of text did not exhibit motion blur or any blurriness. Impressive!

Sound
The built-in stereo speakers are located above the keyboard on opposing sides. Simply put, the sound quality is poor during MP3 playback. Bass was limited and power was insufficient.

The microphone is built-in to the LCD and the port is located in the upper-right of the display. A neat feature is iChat (connects through AOL Instant Messenger) allows you to voice-conference another iChat user using the built-in microphone.

Wireless
Unlike the previous generation iBooks, Airport Extreme comes standard. The Airport Extreme wireless antennas are built-in on each side of the LCD for optimal reception. Airport Extreme is Apple's name for Wi-Fi 802.11g. It's also backwards compatible with 802.11b (11MBps). Airport Extreme is capable of reaching 54MBps (real speeds are approximately 20-35MBps depending on range and interference). Like the PowerBook, Airport Extreme offers a feature called 'interference robustness', which provides stronger connection between the client and base station and also minimizes interference from other devices that use 2.4GHz such as cordless phones and microwaves.

The signal strength reported 13 out of 15 (15 being excellent) within 4-15 ft. range from my Netgear router. I took the iBook downstairs to the kitchen, which is 20-25 ft. away through 2 rooms from my Netgear router and signal level only dropped to 11 bars out of 15. I also had no problems connecting to the wireless network at my old college's library.

Apple offers an optional Bluetooth module for $50 more at the Apple Store online. Bluetooth wireless allows you to sync with other Bluetooth enabled peripherals such as mobile phones and handles. In addition, you can connect wirelessly with a Bluetooth enabled keyboard or mouse.

Features Continued

Connections
The iBook comes with all the essential ports to expand your communication and data transfer capabilities. The iBook comes with two High-Speed USB 2.0 ports located side-by-side to connect external devices such as printers, scanners, digital cameras, keyboards, and pen drives. Each USB 2.0 port can reach transfer speeds up to 480MBps and is backwards compatible with older USB 1.0/1.1. I connected my Sandisk Cruzer USB Pen Drive and my Logitech MX510 mouse to each USB 2.0 port and both were automatically detected by Mac OS X and operated flawlessly. The iBook also includes one FireWire 400 port. The FireWire port can transfer speeds up to 400MBps and can provide power to your devices such as an external FireWire hard disk, digital video camcorder, or Apple iSight video camera. You can also connect FireWire directly to another computer's FireWire port to transfer files.

There is one Ethernet (10/100BASE-T) port for connecting to a network (Router) or to a cable or DSL modem to access the Internet. This is a faster alternative than using Wireless to transfer files within your network and speeds can reach up to 100MBps. The internal 56 K V.92 modem allows you to connect an analog phone line to access the Internet. The headphone jack allows for connecting external speakers, headphones or other sound devices. There is a security slot to connect an optional security cable lock to secure your iBook down to a desk or table.

The iBook has a video out port with an adapter that gives you the ability to connect a display or projector with a VGA connector. This is called video mirroring, which enables the same images to appear simultaneously on the internal monitor (Apple iBook) and external monitor (TV or projector). Unfortunately, screen-spanning is excluded from the iBook but available on the PowerBook models. Apple offers an optional $19 Video Adapter with composite and S-video connector for TVs or video projector to enable screen-mirroring.

Optical Drive and Storage
Like other Apple laptops,the iBook comes with a slot-loading combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) made by Matshita. When I insert a disc an inch inside the drive, the drive will automatically suck the rest of the disc inside to begin reading. Pushing the eject key on the keyboard will release the disc. The slot-loading combo drive will write CD-R discs at up to 24x, CD-RW discs at up to 16x, and will read CD-ROM discs at 24x. It reads DVD-Rom discs at up to 8x. I was able to burn a couple of music CDs effortlessly and flawlessly using iTunes. The only complaint I have about the drive is it's annoyingly loud when reading a disc. Reading a DVD movie is loud when it initially reads the DVD disc but the drive spins down as the movie progresses.

The iBook comes with a Fujitsu 30GB ATA/100 2.5' hard drive with 4200 RPM. 30GB is limited storage space for some people who may want to store larger movie files or have a great number of music files. Apple offers an optional 60GB or 80GB hard drive when customizing your iBook. Nevertheless, the Fujitsu hard drive is extremely silent in idle and seek modes. It's barely audible in a quiet room. The hard drive is also rubber mounted to resist impact.

Battery
The battery included is a 50-watt lithium-ion rechargeable battery and is advertised by Apple to operate up to 6 hours on a single charge. Although I never was able to use the iBook for 6 hours, I was able to use it for web browsing and word processing for a little over 5 hours with the screen brightness down to 30% and the processor set to reduced. This is quite impressive, thanks to the power saving features capabilities of the G4 processor, ATI Mobility RADEON 9200, and Mac OS X Panther. Another great feature is you can check the battery level by looking at the indicator lights on the battery itself by simply pushing a button. The lights show how much charge is left.

Closing the lid while the iBook is on will put it in power-saving sleep mode. The computer barely drains the battery while in sleep mode. Another great feature is when you open the lid the iBook will wake up instantly.

Software
The powerful Mac OS X Panther 10.3 is pre-installed with the iBook.

(includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand), iSync, iCal, DVD Player, AppleWorks, Mac OS X Chess, and Apple Hardware Test.

Third-party applications: Microsoft Internet Explorer, EarthLink (includes 30 days of free dial-up service with activation), Quicken 2005 for Mac, World Book 2004 Edition, Nanosaur 2, Marble Blast Gold, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, Zinio Reader.

Performance

Laptoplogic's method in running performance test with Apple laptops: Xbench test, which is a comprehensive benchmark on overall system performance; measure the time for iTunes to convert a CD to MP3; measure the time for Adobe Photoshop to open and read a 120MB PSD file; Quake 3 Time Demo set at 1024 x 768 with default settings to measure the frames per second; and DVD playback to measure the battery performance by draining the battery.

System Configurations:

	iBook 12-inch	PowerBook 15-inch
OS	Mac OS X Panther 10.3.7	Mac OS X Panther 10.3.7
CPU	1.2GHz PowerPC G4	1.25GHz PowerPC G4
Bus	133 MHz	167 MHz
RAM	256MB DDR266 PC2700	512MB DDR333 PC2700
Hard Drive	Fujitsu 30GB 4200RPM	Hitachi 80GB 5400RPM
Video	ATI M-RADEON 9200 32MB	ATI M-RADEON 9600 64MB
Battery	50-watt Lithium-Ion	46-watt Lithium-ion

Xbench Performance Results
Comprehensive benchmark on overall system performance: CPU, Memory, Disk, Thread, Quartz Graphics, OpenGL, User Interface. (Ran 3 times, took the median score).

Application Performance

PhotoShop CS: Time it takes for Adobe Photoshop CS to open and read a 120MB PSD file. Note: Photoshop will open and read the file much faster when initially loading Photoshop prior to running the tests. Therefore, I restarted the computer each time prior to initiating the test (Ran 3 times, used the median score).

iTunes: CD track to MP3 conversion, importing setting set to high quality (160 kbps); Smashing Pumpkins - "Siamese Dream", 13 track CD - 1:02:08 total.

Gaming Performance
Quake 3 1.32 Time Demo 1 - Demo Four. Resolution set at 1024 x 768 and default settings. This is measuring the frames per second. (Ran 3 times, took the median score)

Battery life Performance
The test was done by running a DVD movie on full-screen with sound on, and brightness set to mid-level (8/16 bars). The iBook 12-inch lasted 3 hours and 33 minutes in our DVD drain performance test and came on top of the PowerBook 15-inch due to its larger capacity battery and less power demand.

Conclusion

Pros:

• Small, compact, and portable
• Elegant design: case is solid and durable
• Easy: very intuitive and simple to use
• Great built-in features: CD-RW/DVD, Wi-Fi, USB, FireWire
• Operates silently and runs cool
• Long battery operating time
• Good value: affordable

Cons:

• Keyboard feels flimsy and cheap
• Keyboard and touchpad button makes loud noise
• Loud CD/DVD read access
• Mediocre performance
• Lacks DVI and PC Card slot (PCMCIA)
• Lacks screen-spanning
• Poor sound quality from built-in speakers
• Small standard storage capacity
• Short warranty

Recommendation:
The Apple iBook G4 12-inch is considered in all-in-one consumer notebook computer. Meaning, it's a laptop that has all the necessary features and capabilities for home users and students to browse the web wirelessly, burn CDs, play games, watch DVD's, or do homework. Personally, I really like the iBook 12-inch, especially for what it's worth. The battery operating time is outstanding, as I can use it for over 4 hours doing simple word processing, chat, E-mail, and web browsing. I also like the simple and clean white design. But despite those great things, a few things were disturbing, such as the noise exhibited from the keyboard and optical drive. The keyboard feels flimsy and cheap, as I would prefer the keyboard on the PowerBook or keyboards from PC makers such as IBM and Sony. Users who need a portable computer for graphics design, video and audio editing, or gaming may want to opt for one of the PowerBook models as it provides better performance and a couple of more features that will satisfy your demands.

The iBook is the perfect blend of features, performance, and portability. For only $999 for the 12-inch model, this is highly recommended for students and home users that want a portable computer to handle all their needs. Essentially, the iBook is the perfect entry-level notebook computer to get a taste of Mac OS X Panther and what Apple has to offer.

Price and Availability
The Apple iBook 12-inch M9623LL/A is available now for $999 with 1 year parts and labor warranty.