# Apple iBook

20 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple iBook and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 18 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for its beautiful design and long lifespan, with some still working today. Critics say it is hard to repair and cannot join modern Wi-Fi out of the box.

## Why people recommend it

- Fond memories, gateway to Macs (4 comments): "just a nice warm fuzzy feelings from childhood" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47069349)) "still it was my gateway to decades of Macs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47479792)) "it was a great machine for me back then!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48387904))
- Beautiful design with smooth edges (4 comments): "Its curved, translucent case design (with a handle!) was echoed in the iMac (1998) and iBook (1999)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45818930)) "the sleep light on the white plastic iBook was the first product feature I truly loved" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47143139)) "it was really comfortable to work on due to its smooth edges" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48963719))
- Long-lasting, not planned obsolescence (2 comments): "The half-life of Apple kit is so high, they are arguably a lot more sustainable than their repairable PC counterparts." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46183188)) "Apple is the opposite of planned obsolescence" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47067742))
- Reliable, wakes when lid opens (2 comments): "the iBook would come out of sleep when you opened the lid" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48646747)) "It worked absolutely perfectly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48919346))

## What people warn about

- Difficult repairs: screws, HDD, switch (3 comments): "The iBook G3 is dozens of screws, worse yet they're torx screws even on the inside." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47291446)) "needs a new reed switch and the replacement process looks horrendous" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48706361)) "it has a notoriously difficult HDD replacement process" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47288839))
- Fragile chassis and grounding issues (2 comments): "transparent case with white paint inside so they had this really cool glow. Unfortunately that caused shadows on the tiniest scratch" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47301936)) "The G4 iBook had grounding issues, and would occasionally get spicy with two-prong outlets." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47473099))
- No updates, no modern Wi-Fi (2 comments): "I can't believe Apple hasn't pushed an update to their 9-year-old device in 11 years!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47076816)) "it most certainly can NOT connect to modern Wi-Fi, not out of the box" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47067469))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple MacBook Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-pro.md): 928 recommend
- [Apple MacBook Neo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-neo.md): 707 recommend
- [MacBook Air](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-air.md): 633 recommend
- [Apple MacBook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macbook.md): 499 recommend
- [Framework Laptop 12](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framework-laptop-12.md): 83 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Apple+iBook+G4+laptop&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apple iBook", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-ibook/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).