Apple M6411 Specs

1. M6411 is the "family number" printed on the back of some models of Apple's old clamshell iBooks, although it's rare to see family numbers used to describe or identify Apple computers. Apple introduced clamshell-shaped laptops in 1999, when Peter H. Lewis described them in a New York Times article as "shaped vaguely like a toilet seat." Apple released its FireWire clamshells, the ones with an M6411 family number, in the fall of 2000. The next spring it switched to a rectangular, all-white design for the iBook.

Processors and Colors

2. Apple released two models of the FireWire clamshells with 366 MHz or 466 MHz PowerPC G3 processors. All of these computers have curved shapes with two-toned panels, opaque white and a second color. The second color for the 366 MHz model is indigo or key lime. It's graphite or key lime for the 466 MHz clamshells. The clamshells have a carrying handle that pulls out. While the clamshell FireWire iBooks are colorful compared to later Apple laptops, the company toned down the candy colors it used in the first iBook clamshells, which included tangerine and blueberry.

Physical Features

3. FireWire clamshells have 12.1-inch screens with a resolution of 800 by 600 pixels, a full-size keyboard and a trackpad. The 366 MHz clamshells have tray-loading CD-ROM optical drives while the 466 MHz clamshells have tray-loading DVD-ROM drives. They included a removable lithium-ion battery and a power adapter. According to Apple's spec sheet, the 366 MHz model weighs 6.6 lbs. and the 466 MHz model is 6.8 lbs.

Ports and Communication

4. The clamshells have one FireWire 400 port, one USB port and a 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet port. They have built-in 56K V.90 modems and accept installation of an optional wireless Apple Airport card.

Audio and Video

5. The FireWire clamshells have a mono internal speaker and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. They'll output 16-bit stereo sound through their AV ports, which also allow composite video output.

Memory and Storage

6. The Firewire clamshells came with 64 MB of RAM, with a single S0-DIMM slot to install additional memory. The internal hard drive is 10 GB.

Software

7. FireWire clamshell iBooks shipped with Mac OS 9. Other included software, either pre-installed or on CD, included AppleWorks, iMovie 2, fax software, two games named Nanosaur and Bugdom, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator browsers and Microsoft Outlook Express for email. The Tiger version of Mac OS X is the last Mac operating system that supports computers with PowerPC G3 processors like the FireWire clamshell. Beginning with Leopard, Apple dropped support for G3s from its operating system software.