This box is an example of 2002-era packaging design for Apple accessories. This particular item is the Apple 65W Portable Power Adapter. The box indicates that it was:
“Compatible with PowerBook G4 computers and iBook computers that have two USB ports.”
The box uses the Apple Myriad font during the year Apple was transitioning away from using Apple Garamond in their corporate identity. The box measures 150cm x 190cm x 55cm.
The box contains the original adapter, but none of the internal cardboard packaging.
Apple’s Mini-VGA to Video Adapter was designed so Mac computers with a built-in Mini-VGA port could be connected to a device with an RGB video or S-video port. According to the packaging, compatible devices included:
“iBook without an external reset button, 12-inch PowerBook G4, or 17-inch iMac (1.0GHz) with mini-VGA port.”
The packaging included a bag with a white back and clear front to fully view the adapter that was being purchased. The bag was sealed with a black cardboard top printed with product information. The font used was Apple Myriad, Apple’s corporate font of the time.
These product mini-brochures were available in Apple Stores and elsewhere in the early 2000s. They measured 3 x 4.5 inches folded, and designs unfolded into different configurations. All of these mini-brochures feature a photo of the product on the front panel, information inside, and specifications on the back panel.
Precious metal. (PowerBook G4 Titanium) (January 2001) This mini-brochure folds out into an 8-up landscape-orientation mini poster featuring the Titanium PowerBook G4.
The New iBook. (May 2001) This iBook mini-brochure unfolds into an 8-up landscape-orientation mini poster featuring the white iBook and the words “Your life. To go.”
Power Mac G4 (Quicksilver) (July 2001) This Power Mac G4 mini-brochure unfolds into a 2-up layout touting the SuperDrive: “SuperDrive. Superfast.”—then a horizontal 4-up display featuring various tasks that can be performed on the Power Mac G4—and finally an 8-up landscape-orientation mini-poster featuring a “hero” photo describing the “Quick silver” Power Mac G4 as a supercomputer.
Apple Displays (July 2001) This mini-brochure unfolds into an 8-up landscape-orientation mini poster featuring Apple’s three LCD displays (15-, 17-, and 22-inch models) with the tagline, “The first family of flat-panel displays.”
iMac (August 2001) This iMac mini-brochure features an uncharacteristic shot of a snow iMac in a room—instead of on a white background. The horizontal 4-up layout features several tasks that can be completed on an iMac with four photos and the headlines “Surf the Internet,” “Make movies,” “Mix music,” and “Make a photo album.” The fully unfolded 8-up poster features a birds-eye view of an indigo iMac with the headline, “Your digital life starts here.”
iBook (October 2001) This iBook mini-brochure unfolds into an 8-up landscape-orientation mini-poster listing several features (make movies, go wireless, organize your organizer, Mac OS X, rip thousands of MP3s, make a photo album, watch DVDs, burn DVDs, AppleCare) and the tagline “Your life. To go. The new 600MHz iBook.”
PowerBook G4 (October 2001) This PowerBook G4 mini-brochure unfolds into an 8-up landscape-orientation mini-poster featuring the Titanium PowerBook G4 and the tagline “1 inch thin, 5.3 pounds, DVD, 5-hour battery, AirPort, 15.2-inch mega-wide screen.”
My collection of Apple CD and DVD media includes operating systems, applications, software collections that shipped with devices, promotional media, diagnostic tools, and educational content. In general, Apple-branded CD or DVD examples in original packaging have been presented separately, while single discs or collections of discs are presented chronologically.
PowerBook G4 Software Restore 1 of 3 (Mac OS versions 9.1, 10.0.3; CD version 1.0; 691-3079-A, 2001)
PowerBook G4 Software Install (SSW version 9.1, CD version 1.2, 691-2957-A, 2001)
Mac OS X (Version 10.0, 1Z691-2974-A, 2001)
Mac OS X (Version 10.0.3, 1Z691-3064-A, 2001)
Mac OS X Upgrade CD (Version 10.1, 1Z691-3184-A, 2001)
Mac OS X Developer Tools (691-2963-A, 2001)
iMovie 2 Built for Mac OS X (Version 2.1, 691-3021-A, 2001)
iTunes (Version 1.0, 691-2900-A, 2001)
AppleWorks for Mac Seed 1/2/2001 (Version 6.0.5d11 xxx.xx, 2001)
Mac OS 9 (Version 9.2.1, 691-3334-A, 2001)
Mac OS X, Version 10.1, Upgrade CD
Mac OS 9, Version 9.2.1, Update CD
Apple shipped CD bundles in cardboard envelope packages in 2001. Since each computer required a different number of CDs, various envelope sizes were used to accommodate the number of CDs. A white envelope with a graphite Apple logo was used in this software bundle example.
The PowerBook G4 12-inch featured a 1.33 GHz PowerPC 7447a (G4) processor, 256 MB of DDR SDRAM, a 60 GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive (4200 RPM), a slot-loading 8X Combo drive or a 4X SuperDrive, and Bluetooth 1.1/AirPort Extreme (802.11g). The case was made of an aluminum alloy. The 12.1-inch TFT XGA display was 1024×768 pixels. The small size offered considerable computing power in a highly mobile package.
The PowerBook G4 1.33 was similar to its predecessor (PowerBook G4/1.0 12-inch), but had a new logic board design and faster performance.
The PowerBook G4/1.33 17-inch was among the first aluminum PowerBook laptops. The PowerBook G4/1.33 17-inch featured a 1.33 GHz PowerPC 7447 (G4) processor, 512 MB of RAM, an 80 GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive, a slot-loading 2X SuperDrive, a FireWire 800 port, built-in Bluetooth 1.1 and AirPort Extreme (802.11g), and an ambient light sensor keyboard. The 17-inch widescreen TFT display had 1440×900 resolution, a very large display for a laptop then and now.
The previous version of the PowerBook G4 17-inch laptop had a slightly slower processor (1.0 GHz), a smaller hard drive, and a lower resolution graphics card. This PowerBook G4/1.33 17-inch upgraded the USB ports to the USB 2.0 standard.
This and all 17-inch PowerBook laptops at the time were near-perfect portable solutions for graphic artists and filmmakers. The high performance of these laptops allowed them to run the most recent versions of Adobe Photoshop and Apple Final Cut Pro, allowing creatives to flexibility to work anywhere with the same power available on desktop computers at the time with a very large display.
The internal photos were added in November 2020 when I made a slight repair to the internal hinges to allow the magnetic clasps to keep the lid closed. This example has a structural problem that was likely sustained due to a drop, but it still functions.
