IBook

The program has since been applied to other similar problems in Apple's hardware range. Crash Team Racing and Konami Krazy Racers) feature karts as the main vehicles. Apple says the program is for "repair or replacement of the logic board in iBook models manufactured between May 2001 and October 2003 that are experiencing specific component failure"[4]. Also, many childrens video game racing titles (i.e. In response to the problem, in January 2004, Apple initiated the "iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program" [3]", which covers any expense of repairing "affected iBooks for three years"—essentially an extended warranty for the affected products. A popular video game rendition is the Mario Kart series. At one point, a group of users [2] even sought to file a class action suit against Apple. Many NASCAR drivers also got their start in racing from karts, such as Darrell Waltrip, Lake Speed, Ricky Rudd, Tony Stewart, and Kyle Petty.

In late November 2003, a number of iBook users started to report a display problem with their laptops [1]. Many, perhaps most Formula One racers grew up racing karts, most prominent among them Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Mika Häkkinen. Each guide also includes a screw guide that lists the different types of screws and where they go. Such karts are usually powered by small, detuned four-stroke engines and are far slower than the fully-fledged competitive versions. iFixit offers a set of FixIt Guides for the iBooks that provide instructions with pictures covering how to get to any internal component. As well as "serious" competitive kart racing, many commercial enterprises offer casual hire of karts. For comparison, most recent Wintel laptop form factors allow removal of a hard drive caddy after removing one or two screws. In addition, it brings an awareness of the various parameters that can be altered to try to improve the competitiveness of the kart (examples being tyre pressure, gearing, seat position, chassis stiffness) that also exist in other forms of motor racing.

To replace or even access the hard drive, about fifty-six screws need to be removed. It can prepare the driver for high-speed wheel-to-wheel racing by helping develop quick reflexes, precision car control, and decision-making skills. The current iBook enclosure, however, is also notable for being difficult to open. Karting is considered the first step in any serious racer's career. This does give the keyboard a "spongy" effect though, if the user types with heavy hands. Many people associate it with young drivers, but adults are also very active in karting. For customer installable parts such as an AirPort (wireless) card or additional memory, installation into an iBook is rather easy, as the keyboard is designed to easily open with two spring-loaded latches that may also be locked with screws if so desired. Kart racing is usually used as a low-cost and relatively safe way to introduce drivers to motor racing.

Apple's laptop/portable product line consists of the iBook and PowerBook G4, with the MacBook Pro set to ship in February 2006. In the United States, the biggest proportion of racers are in the dirt oval classes which often use Briggs & Stratton industrial engines. Later, a PowerPC G4 chip and slot loading optical drives were added on October 23, 2003—finally ending Apple’s use of the G3 chip.
Many people race in Spec series such as Rotax Max (a Touch-and-Go class), Formula TKM or those using the Yamaha KT100 engine, and Cadet classes for ages 8 to 12 are usually popular. A 14-inch model was added to the existing 12-inch models on January 07, 2002 during Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco. These are regarded as the top levels of karting and are also raced in national championships. The iBook design has stayed largely the same since then. The FIA sanctions international championships in JICA, Intercontinental A, Formula A, Intercontinental C, Super ICC and Superkart Division 1 and Division 2.

With a few exceptions, white polycarbonate is used in consumer lines such as iMac, eMac and iBook, while anodized aluminum is used for professional products like the Power Mac G5 and PowerBook G4. There are many different classes or formulae in karting. The iBook's design, along with elements from its sister product, the PowerBook G4 are currently used in Apple's entire product matrix. In general, consistency, reliability, and pit strategy is of greater importance than all out speed. Apple received industry accolades for brilliant design, which has since been widely copied. Endurance races last for an extended period, from 30 minutes up to 24 hours or more, for one or more drivers. These smaller machines were lighter, had a higher quality 12-inch LCD screen and largely thought to be a superior design. The FIA championships, including the World Kart Championship, take place in this format.

Aesthetically, the former iBook's bold colors and radical (much contested) form-factor were abandoned for a crisp white and slim-line form factor. It normally occurs in the format of three qualifying heats and a final race for trophy positions. Essentially, the machine had been reinvented from the very core, with new features and a new design. Here, speed and successful passing is of the most importance. A next generation iBook debuted at a press conference in Cupertino on May 1, 2001. Typical duration does not normally exceed 15 minutes. OS X 10.4 Tiger requires a Firewire port and DVD drive, restricting it to the late-model iBook SE. The sprint format is a series of short-duration races, normally for a small number of laps, that qualify for a final, with a variety of point scoring calculations to determine the event's overall winner.

Support for these iBooks is built into OS X 10.0 through to 10.3.9. Typically, race formats are one of the following:. Most iBooks shipped with Mac OS 8.6 or 9.0. A variety of kart circuits permit the sport to be practised, although only homologated ones can have official races. This limitation still holds true in all iBooks produced today. In the USA there is not as much FIA involvement. Complicated procedures and countless screws had to be removed in order to access any internal components, such as the hard disk and optical drive. As a free-time activity, it can be performed by almost anybody, and as a motorsport in itself, it is one of the sports regulated by FIA (under the guise of CIK), permitting licensed racing for anyone from the age of 8 onward.

No other modifications could be performed in warranty, and no PCMCIA port existed to provide additional expansion capabilities. Along with its motorcycle equivalent pocketbike racing, Kart racing is generally accepted as the most economic form of motorsport available. The original iBook's only customer installable parts were additional memory and an AirPort card, via two slots under the easily removed keyboard. The tyres can support acceleration round corners at 2 G (20 m/s²), depending on chassis, engine, and motor setup. The original iBook design was discontinued in May 2001, in favor of the new "Dual USB" iBooks. Tyres are sometimes prepared with special solvents to soften them and increase grip, however this is banned by many racing organisations. Colors available were "Graphite", "Indigo" and "Key Lime"; FireWire and video out were added as well. Similar to other motorsports, kart tyres have different types for use appropriate to track conditions:.

A revision to the iBook brought new colors, directly from the mid-2000 iMac. Wheels and tyres are much smaller than those used on a normal car. The line continually received processor, memory, and hard disk upgrades. Typical top speeds of racing karts are around 90 mph (145 km/h) for fixed gear and in excess of 160 mph (260 km/h) for the best shifters. Despite its drawbacks, the iBook was a sales success. In Europe, competitive kart racers tend to prefer fixed gear 100 cc or 125 cc machines although shifters of 125 cc, 250 cc and occasionally 210 cc are also raced. Nevertheless, this version of the iBook, along with many other Macs, could be seen in hit movies and televisions shows. Some of these gearboxes are operated with wheel-mounted paddles.

The iBook was labelled as "clamshell" or "toilet seat" due to the distinctive design. More serious kart racers in the USA prefer shifter karts, which have a six-speed manual transmission and a clutch to make better use of the more powerful engine. Long rumoured features of touch-screens, and ultra-long battery life were absent. Unclutched engines will be used at this level until 2007 when the rules will change. The iBook was heftier than the PowerBook of the time, with lower specifications. However, the top international classes still use direct drive engines, the reasoning being that at this level drivers should be good enough to stay on the track during the race and hence not need to restart their karts. Heated debate was made over just about everything—the aesthetics, features, weight, performance, pricing and so on. These slipper clutches allow the high rpm kart engines to stay higher on their power curve at low speeds, and produce impressive acceleration as they engage.

Apple released the AirPort wireless base station at the same time. At first the clutches were "dry", but the oil bath or "slipper" clutch became common later. Apple partnered with Lucent in the creation of the iBook's wireless capabilities, setting an industry standard. In the very early days karts were direct drive, but the inconvenience of that setup soon led to the centrifugal clutch for the club level classes. The first iBook was the first mainstream computer ever to be sold with internal wireless networking, with antenna built around the display bezel, although it still required an optional wireless card installed under the keyboard. They are usually limited to about 60 mph (100km/h) for sprint karts and about 90 mph (145 km/h) for enduro karts. To attract sales to schools, the iBooks had power connectors on the underside of the machine that allowed multiple iBooks to be easily charged on a custom-made rack. Recreational karts have fixed gearing, which in part determines their top speed.

The ports were placed uncovered on the side, as a cover was thought to be fragile. The lack of a differential means that the outside rear tire must slide while cornering. USB, Ethernet, and modem ports were standard, as was an optical drive. Karts do not have a differential. Like the iMac, the iBook ran a PowerPC G3 chip, and included no legacy Apple interfaces. A typical 100 cc or 125 cc TaG engine costs around £1500, and a 125 cc gearbox engine about £2000. Apple touted the durability of the casing by demonstrating someone holding on to the iBook jumping off a height (onto cushions). The most popular categories worldwide are those using 100 cc engines and the "Touch-and-Go" 125 cc units.

The target audience included young children, so a carrying handle was built into the hinge. These can develop from about 16 hp to 30 hp (12 to 22 kW) for a single-cylinder 100 cc unit to 90 hp (67 kW) for a twin 250 cc. Its marketing slogan was "iMac to go". 2-stroke engines were originally taken from motorcycles, but have become a kart-specialised item with dedicated manufacturers, Vortex being one example. The design philosophy was influenced by Apple's consumer desktop, iMac, with a large distinctive shape, and translucent clear and coloured plastics. Briggs and Stratton and Honda are manufacturers of such engines. After much speculation, Steve Jobs unveiled the consumer-targeted iBook laptop computer during the keynote presentation of Macworld Conference & Expo, New York on July 21, 1999. 4-stroke engines are typically standard lawn mower, generator, or even chainsaw engines, sometimes with small modifications, developing from about 5 to 20 hp (4 to 15 kW).

. Gasoline 2-stroke or 4-stroke engines are the most common type, but other types of propulsion are available:. With the introduction of the Macbook Pro, the iBook line's future may be in doubt, however, as of January 2006, the Apple website store features the two iBooks with the larger (15.4 inch) Macbook Pro priced well above them. Several types are available, as well as differing fuel options. Instead of the common market practice of selling yesterday's professional technology to consumers, Apple originally engineered the iBook as a derivative of its professional laptop computer, the PowerBook G3, adopting several key features that had made it an early market success. While hobby go-karts depend on gravity for propulsion (these are called soap-box carts or billy karts), racing karts use a small engine. Following the success of the iMac and its ongoing hardware simplification strategy, Apple Computer introduced the iBook, a laptop computer targeted to consumer and education market segments.
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(Other Specifications Same as iBook G4 Late 2004). (List of karting manufacturers). Both models now feature: 512 MB memory (expandable to 1.5 GB) at 333Mhz; ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 graphics processor with 32 MB video RAM; Sudden Motion Sensor (parks the hard drive head if the iBook is dropped); scrolling trackpad; Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; Slightly faster bus 133Mhz/142Mhz. American companies in the shifter kart market include: GT Race Karts, Trackmagic and Margay. While the 14-inch display is bigger it is the same resolution as the 12-inch. These usually cost around £1700. M9848LL/A: (Retail $1299) 1.42 GHz; 14-inch display; 60 GB hard disk; Slot-Load SuperDrive DVD±RW/CD-RW. Avanti Kart, Birel and CRG are a few well known examples of the many European manufacturers of race-quality chassis.

M9846LL/A: (Retail $999) 1.33 GHz; 12-inch display; 40 GB hard disk; Slot-Load Combo Drive DVD-ROM/CD-RW. Professionally raced karts typically weigh 200 to 300 lb (100 to 150 kg). Still a G4 PowerPC. Further complications can be added by changing floorpan materials / fastenings to change the effective stiffness of the chassis. iBook G4 Mid 2005 (July 26, 2005) - Minor revision