{"id":7040730,"date":"2026-08-17T12:19:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/apple-2\/powerbook-165-is-apples-cheapest-laptop-today-in-apple-history\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T12:19:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:19:00","slug":"powerbook-165-is-apples-cheapest-laptop-today-in-apple-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7040730","title":{"rendered":"PowerBook 165 is Apple’s cheapest laptop: Today in Apple history"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"August August 16, 1993:<\/strong> Apple ships the PowerBook 165, a lower-cost, grayscale version of the PowerBook 165c, which was the company\u2019s first laptop to offer a color display.<\/p>\n

The new model lacks the most attention-grabbing feature of the 165c, but it also brings its own claim to fame. The PowerBook 165 is Apple\u2019s most affordable laptop yet.<\/p>\n

PowerBook 165 lacks color, but is affordable<\/h2>\n

Apple introduced the PowerBook 165 as a replacement for 1992\u2019s PowerBook 160. That Mac<\/a> was a great laptop in its own right, and was notable for being the first PowerBook able to drive an external color monitor.<\/p>\n

In terms of its design and specs<\/a>, the new PowerBook 165 was virtually identical to its predecessor. However, it lacked a floating-point unit<\/a> math coprocessor while boosting processor speed from 25Mhz to 33Mhz.<\/p>\n

Until the 165 arrived, Apple pushed the PowerBook 165c most heavily due to the first-of-its-kind color display. Unfortunately, it wasn\u2019t a particularly good screen. The 8.4-inch, passive-matrix color display could appear dim if not viewed head-on under ideal conditions.<\/p>\n

It proved so mediocre that users wanting a great color display on an Apple laptop were better off buying the PowerBook 180c laptop<\/a>, an upgrade to the higher-end PowerBook 180. (See how confusing Apple\u2019s product lines were in the 1990s?)<\/p>\n

How the PowerBook line changed computing<\/h3>\n
\"Two<\/a>
Design details like the placement of the trackball and feet that allowed the user to adjust the laptop\u2019s tilt made the PowerBook series stand out from the crowd.
Photos: Mass Made Soul<\/a>\/CC BY-NC 4.0<\/a>\/Modified by Cult of Mac<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While they might seem bulky and primitive by today\u2019s standards, the PowerBook lineup changed portable computing when Apple introduced the first of them in 1991.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PowerBooks did for laptops what the original Mac did for desktop computers: actually made them personal,\u201d writes Adam Richardson on Mass Made Soul<\/em><\/a>. \u201cThey were the first to look like real consumer product in the way we think about them now \u2014 clean, elegant and stylish rather than beige and utilitarian with odd lines and cooling vents scattered around.\u201d<\/p>\n

The laptops, designed by Robert Brunner<\/a>, who became director of Apple\u2019s industrial design group in 1989,\u00a0 made a smart ergonomic innovation that took the industry by storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of moving the keyboard back and placing the trackball centrally in front of it with palm rests on either side immediately led to all PC manufacturers following the same pattern,\u201d Richardson writes. \u201cBrunner credits the initial idea of this layout coming from an electrical engineer on the project, who had been experimenting with different arrangements of the internal components. Brunner immediately realized the ergonomic improvements of this layout. It seems so obvious in retrospect, but somebody had to do it first.\u201d<\/p>\n

PowerBook 165: A good Apple laptop at a great price<\/h3>\n

All these factors made the PowerBook 165 a great option. It clearly had an edge when it came to pricing. The black-and-white PowerBook 160 it replaced cost $2,480. And the models with a color screen basically broke the bank. The PowerBook 165c cost a whopping $3,870, and a fully kitted-out PowerBook 180c would set you back $4,079.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the PowerBook 165 started at just $1,970 \u2014 nearly $300 less than the next-cheapest laptop Apple made at the time.<\/p>\n

Today, it isn\u2019t one of the laptops most people talk about when they wax nostalgic about Apple products. In the early 1990s, however \u2014 when laptops were extremely pricey \u2014 this solid machine arrived at a very appealing price point. In today\u2019s dollars, it would cost more than $4,550<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Did you own the PowerBook 165? What was your earliest Apple laptop? Leave your comments below. <\/p>\n

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