Features
Most of the PowerBook 100's internal components were based on its predecessor, the Macintosh Portable. It included a Motorola 68HC000 16 MHz processor, had 2 MB memory, no floppy disk drive, and cost approximately $2,300. An external floppy disk drive was available for $279. The dimensions of the PowerBook 100 were an improvement over the Portable. It was 8.5 inches (22 cm) deep, 11 inches (28 cm) wide, and 1.8 inches (4.6 cm) high, compared to the Portable, which was 14.83 inches (37.7 cm) deep, 15.25 inches (38.7 cm) wide and 4.05 inches (10.3 cm) high. Another significant difference was the less expensive passive matrix display used instead of the sharper active matrix used on the Portable (and the 170). The PowerBook 100 included the System 7.0.1 operating system as standard, with support for all versions up to System 7.5.5. Apple, however, released System 6.0.8L, which allowed the PowerBook 100 to run System 6. It could also be used with some earlier System 6 versions, although Apple did not officially support this.
The PowerBook 100 had one external serial port, designed for use with a printer or any compatible RS-422 device. It was the first Macintosh to omit an external modem port, instead offering an optional built-in 2400 baud modem for communications. As a result, for the first time a user could not print directly and access AppleTalk or a faster external modem simultaneously, and devices such as advanced MIDI interfaces could not be used because they required the dedicated use of both ports. A third-party serial modem port could, however, be installed in the internal modem slot for consumers who needed traditional functions.
When the computer was not in use, contents of the memory were preserved as long as the main lead-acid battery remained charged. The PowerBook 100 Power Manager was an integrated circuit, usually placed on the logic board of a PowerBook, and was responsible for the power management of the computer. Identical to that of the Macintosh Portable, it controlled the display's backlight, hard drive spin-down, sleep and wake, battery charging, trackball control, and input/output (I/O). The 100 did add a new feature: 3.5 V batteries backed up permanent and expansion random access memory (RAM) when the PowerBook 100's battery was being replaced or when the 100 was otherwise temporarily removed from all power sources. This made it a perfect candidate for use with Apple's RAM disk to help increase battery life by accessing the hard disk less frequently, since the 100 was the only PowerBook that maintained the contents of RAM on shutdown in order to reduce startup time.
The PowerBook 100 was the first PowerBook to incorporate SCSI Disk Mode, which allowed it to be used as an external hard disk on a desktop Macintosh. This provided a convenient method for software to be installed onto the PowerBook or transferred to the desktop, without the need for the 100's optional floppy disk drive. A specialized SCSI cable with a unique connector was required, however, to use any SCSI device on the PowerBook series. A second dedicated cable was required for SCSI Disk Mode. This feature was unique to the 100 until Apple introduced new PowerBooks more than a year later.
There are two versions of the PowerBook 100's QWERTY layout keyboard: a domestic US version with 63 keys and an international ISO version with 64 keys. The caps lock key on the PowerBook 100 did not have a locking position or a lighted indicator of its status, and to compensate, the System 7 operating system software includes an extension file that causes an icon of the international caps lock symbol (⇪) to appear in the upper right-hand corner of the menu bar when Caps Lock is active.
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