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Macintosh PowerBook 1400

03/03/2026 by Admin

Categories: Blog Post

The PowerBook 1400 was released in October 1996, discontinued in May 1998, and was available in a number of different CPU/RAM configurations during this time.

The expansion bay can be populated with either a floppy drive, a CDROM drive, or a ZIP drive.

The 1400 has two PCMCIA slots, which can be used for removable storage (using a CF-to-PCMCIA card), wired network cards, or even an early WiFi card.

More information

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_1400

https://macdat.net/macintosh/powerbook/powerbook_1400.html

I have four 1400 series machines in my collection, details about these below:

My first 1400

This device was rescued from e-waste collection, and very kindly shipped interstate by a friend I met on IRC who worked in schools at the time (approx. 2003-2004).

It was sent  with a floppy drive, a CDROM drive, and some spare back shells for the LCD - One of these was clear, and allows you to customise the look of your machine with paper inserts.

I still have this device today, though it is a little worse for wear and is kept primarily for sentimental reasons.

Specs:

• PowerPC 603e @ 133MHz
• 24MB of RAM
• 800x600 dual-scan passive screen
• 1.3GB hard drive, replaced with a 4GB CF card in CF-to-IDE adapter
• Orinoco 'Silver' 802.11b PCMCIA card (flashed to 'Gold')

It has a few issues, in particular:

• Battery terminals damaged
  • Some of the spring portion of the battery terminals were bent our of shape, and broke off when attempting to straighten them.
  • Can result in power cycling the device when bumped, though not too big a problem if you are careful when moving.
• Bad battery
  • Many years after receiving this device the battery no longer accepted a charge, and developed a vinegar smell which usually indicates battery leakage.
  • Crystals of electrolyte have started to form inside the case.
• Case cracking
  • These devices are known to have brittle plastics, especially now, as we approach 30 years since release.
  • This device had light cracking at the hinges when I received it, likely a result of a hard life in schools.

My 'endgame' 1400

This particular machine is a 'beige whale' in my collection, an amalgamation of parts from several eBay purchases over many years.

This machine runs very well, and can operate on battery for a number of hours after replacing the failing cells in the battery pack.

Specs:

• PowerPC 603e @ 166MHz
• 64MB RAM
• 800x600 active-matrix screen
• Add-on video card - More VRAM and external display
• SD to IDE adaptor for storage
• Rebuilt battery pack
• Orinoco 'Gold' 802.11b PCMCIA card

My other 1400's

These are in pretty rough shape, with creaky/failing screen hinges and cracked cases, though are good to have around in case I ever need spare parts.

Wireless on an old Mac

Most wireless cards and drivers for machines of this age may only connect to an open SSID, or at best one using WEP - They will not work with modern WiFi networks.

Getting a modern AP to broadcast a suitable network can be challenging, and for a time I was using an older OpenWRT device for the task, though have more recently managed to work out the kinks with Ubiquiti gear.

I have this device connected to a segregated WiFi network which is only broadcast from a single AP in my house, configured with:

• 128-bit WEP
  • 128-bit WEP is practically useless these days, as it can be cracked within minutes with enough traffic intercepted.
• MAC filtering
  • This offers some protection, though it is trivial to spoof a MAC address with many cards/drivers.
• Harsh speed capping
  • This is the main 'protection' against somebody who does managed to connect.
  • Enough speed for older devices, while being nearly unusable on the modern Internet.

With Internet access unbearably slow, this should dissuade anybody who does manage to connect from going any further!

What can you do with a 1400?

Like with most retro devices of this age, use is fairly limited, though you can do very light web browsing using FrogFind.

The 1400 has a nice keyboard, so it could be used for basic note taking or as a basic word processor.

Some games that run quite well on this device, and I like play from time-to-time:

• SimTower
  • PowerPC is overkill, this game will run on a lowly 68030 machine.
• Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego
  • With practically unlimited storage, having the the full CDROM version on disk is no problem.

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