Newton MessagePad 2000

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Newton MessagePad 2000
CPU: 162 MHz ARM 610
Introduced:April 1996
Discontinued:November 1997
Full Specifications

Newton MessagePad: Apple's line of Personal Digital Assistants from the 1990s (AD).

The MessagePad 2000 (released in April of 1996) was a radical departure from its predecessors. The screen was enlarged, and the processor bumped from 20 MHZ (as on the MP 130) to 162 MHZ (Arm 610 RISC). The RAM was also bumped to 5 MB, which was twice as much as the MP 130 had. Its ROM was also doubled to 8 MB.

With more power, and a software update which offered some bug fixes and support for things like NewtWorks, the MP 2000 was highly regarded, although the Newton line as a whole is generally considered a failure.

With its increased power, and its 2 PC Card slots, the MP 2000 truly brought the internet to your doorstep, and could handle Email and web surfing where any previous model was severely limited in this regard. For instance, less memory error messages and more heap allowed one to browse the internet or engage in Email without too many freezes or system restarts. With 2 PC Card slots, wifi internet was made possible, and instead of having to run the Newton without a Flash card whilst connected via wifi, the 2000 allowed for both a Wifi card and a Flash card to be installed in the unit simultaneously. Whatever card you were using, be it wifi, a network card, etc., the Flash card could remain.

Other notable enhancements were its larger screen (480x320 vs 320x240 in older units) and universal battery bay (users could either use alkaline batteries in a battery tray, or use Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries that could be charged while seated in the unit).

The MessagePad 2000 was replaced by the MessagePad 2100 in November, 1997. It was shortlived, however, as Steve Jobs, just coming back to Apple around that time, dissolved the Newton line and the 2100 stopped selling after just 4 months on the market.