August 25, 1995: Apple releases the PowerBook 5300, the identical Mac laptop computer that saves the world from alien invaders within the 1996 blockbuster film Independence Day.
The pc makes a complete lot extra big-screen appearances too, for that matter. See among the laptop computer’s most high-profile cameos beneath.
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PowerBook 5300: Apple’s Hollywood pc
Apple at all times did an amazing job getting its merchandise in films. However 1995’s PowerBook 5300 did lots higher than most, primarily as a consequence of its starring position in so many movies.
In Independence Day, for instance, the Mac (a platform that was simply starting to get higher at interfacing with Home windows PCs) plugs into the alien mothership, courtesy of its 100MHz processor, 64MB RAM and Mac OS 7.5.2 working system. The pc then deactivates the enemy ship’s shields by importing a virus.
Not all on-screen appearances by Apple computer systems proved so auspicious. As Owen Linzmayer relates in his wonderful (though now significantly outdated) guide Apple Confidential 2.0, the most important missed alternative for the PowerBook 5300 on the massive display screen got here in 1996’s Mission Unattainable, wherein Tom Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt makes use of the laptop computer.
Why deem this a missed alternative? As a result of Apple made the $15 million sponsorship deal late in manufacturing, and subsequently had no say over the screenplay. Consequently, the Mac exhibits up on-screen working a command-line interface as an alternative of Mac OS, making it look method behind the Home windows 95 working system then working on PCs.
Even worse, when a very powerful job turns up later within the film, the Mission Unattainable staff’s pc knowledgeable prescribes using nonexistent “Considering Machines laptops.” Supposedly solely these computer systems are as much as the duty at hand.
The PowerBook will get some display screen time
You’ll be able to see among the PowerBook 5300’s big-screen cameos within the photos beneath.
Picture: Starring the Laptop
PowerBook 5300 faces real-world issues
Befitting Apple’s dangerous luck on the time, its most high-profile Mac in years (at the very least when it comes to display screen time) suffered some embarrassing failures. After Apple shipped the primary 1,000 items to sellers round the USA, information broke that two manufacturing items caught hearth. One went up in flames on the residence of an Apple programmer. The opposite burned up at Apple’s manufacturing facility in China.
“The primary hallmark for Apple is ease of use,” wrote Pieter Hartsook, editor of The Hartsook Letter, on the time. “In case your machine doesn’t work, it’s not straightforward to make use of.”
Apple issued a recall on the 100 PowerBook 5300s already bought, and changed them with one other unit. When these turned out to have solely two-thirds of the laborious drive capability of their predecessors, Apple was pressured to decrease the value of the laptop computer by $100. Consequently, when potential consumers noticed the PowerBook 5300 plastered over film screens, they may not purchase one of many computer systems. Sponsorship offers typically don’t work effectively when this form of factor occurs!
As soon as Apple sorted out these issues, nonetheless, the PowerBook 5300 grew to become a strong instance of a mid-’90s Apple laptop computer. Considerably, it was the primary PowerBook based mostly on Apple’s PowerPC CPU — the identical processors that continued for use by Macs till 2006, when Apple made the change to Intel chips. (Cupertino started its extremely profitable transition to proprietary Apple silicon in 2020.)
The PowerBook 5300 holds one different doubtful distinction. The highest-end PowerBook 5300ce got here with a $6,500 price ticket, making it the costliest Apple laptop computer ever. (Adjusted for inflation, that’s greater than $12,600 in at the moment’s cash.)
Do you keep in mind the PowerBook 5300? Drop us a line along with your ideas and recollections beneath.
