SAN FRANCISCO — Declaring 2003 "the year of the laptop" for Apple Computer Inc., Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled a pair of PowerBook notebook computers Tuesday as he kicked off the Macworld trade show in San Francisco.
One of them is the industry's first laptop to sport a 17-inch screen, borrowed from Apple's iMac desktop computer. The 17-inch PowerBook G4, which goes on sale next month, comes with a SuperDrive, which can read and record both CDs and DVDs; a pair of FireWire connections for data transfer; a faster wireless networking system; and a keyboard with letters that light up in the dark. It weighs 6.8 pounds and will carry a price tag of $3,299.
"It is the most incredible product we have ever made," said Jobs, clad in his customary blue jeans, black turtleneck and sneakers for his annual keynote speech. "This is clearly the most advanced notebook on the planet."
The other new PowerBook G4 has a 12-inch screen, which makes it the smallest full-function laptop on the market, Jobs said. It goes on sale this month for $1,799, or $1,999 with the SuperDrive.
Jobs also announced Apple's first Internet browser, dubbed Safari, and a host of other software programs and upgrades, news of which had been kept under wraps.
But it's laptops that Jobs sees as the wave of the future. During his nearly two-hour presentation, the CEO said he wanted to boost sales of Apple's entry-level iBook and high-end PowerBook computers.
Laptops accounted for 20% of Apple's sales in 2000, then shot up to 35% in 2001 after the debut of the sleek titanium PowerBook line.
In 2002 laptop sales fell to 32%, but the company expects them to return to 35% this year and reach 50% of Apple's sales in the near future.
"What we're seeing is a confluence of technologies -- performance and mobility -- which have been separate," Stan Ng, Apple's product line manager for special projects, said in an interview. "It's demand from our customers. They want the performance and flexibility of desktops, and to take it with them."
Mac fan Edwin Pessara of Malibu, a Navy cryptologist, said he couldn't wait to buy the new 17-inch laptop.
"I was surprised they came out with a new PowerBook -- all the rumor Web sites said there was nothing new," said Pessara, who is stationed in Pensacola, Fla.
