Titanium PowerBook

The titanium version of the PowerBook G4 was a special design moment for Apple for a number of reasons.

It was Apple’s first attempt at a titanium laptop. At the launch event in 2001, Steve Jobs was almost child-like in his excitement: it was made from titanium, like the spy planes, he enthused. It was only an inch thick (0.7 inches less than the PowerBook G3). Oh, and the Apple logo on the lid was flipped so that it was the ‘correct’ way up when in use. This minimalist, metal-led design was the precursor to a number of other notable products from Apple, including the Power Mac G5, MacBook Pro and later models of the iMac.

Apple’s fling with titanium was short-lived, however, and it introduced an aluminium PowerBook G4 in February 2003 – nine months after which the titanium model was phased out. But its radical reinterpretation of laptop design aesthetic had a lasting influence that’s still evident today.