Apple’s first laptop, the Macintosh Portable, had a similar software to the Macintosh II, with a faster 16 MHz 68000 CPU. Although it received positive reviews, the Portable failed due to several reasons.

Firstly, the Portable was extremely heavy, weighing around 16 pounds. This made it inconvenient to carry around and defeated the purpose of a portable device. Additionally, the battery life suffered due to the introduction of backlit displays in later models.

Furthermore, the Portable’s exorbitant price range of $6,500 to $7,000, adjusted for inflation, made it unaffordable for most consumers. This high price tag was a major deterrent to potential buyers.

It’s no surprise that the Macintosh Portable failed to sell as well as Apple’s desktop computers at that time. Thankfully, Apple made significant progress towards their current line of successful MacBooks with the introduction of the PowerBook in 1991.

Image: Wojciech Pędzich via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 4.0