Brent Bossom <jp000035@interramp.com> writes:

Apple Japan has announced the latest (and perhaps last) in the 68K PowerBook 500 series; however this one will only be available in Japan. On the outside, apart from a new graphite-black case, the new PowerBook 550c looks like the 540c. Inside, however, there are significant differences: a 10.4-inch TFT color display (640 x 480 at 256 colors or 640 x 400 at 16-bit color), a 33 MHz 68040 CPU with FPU, 12 MB of RAM, and a 750 MB SCSI hard drive are standard equipment. (There's no modem-equipped model.) To accommodate the larger screen size, the 550c's stereo speakers are slightly smaller than those on the 540c, and the contrast/brightness buttons have been lined up vertically rather than horizontally. The 550c is expected to be available at the end of June and sold at an "open price" (no list). It will ship with two Type-II batteries and built-in Ethernet. All this, and the 550c weighs 200 grams less than the 540c at 3.1 kg.