Apple Quietly Drops PowerBook Prices -- Just over a month ago, Apple increased the speed and hard drive size of its iBook consumer laptop models, keeping the same prices. Today the company quietly lowered the prices of its 12-inch and 15-inch PowerBook models by $200 each. The 17-inch PowerBook model, which began shipping in quantity only weeks ago (unlike the more readily available 12-inch models, announced at the same time at the Macworld Expo in January), remains at $3,300. The 12-inch PowerBook G4 now sells for $1,600 with a Combo drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM), or $1,800 with a SuperDrive (CD-RW/DVD-R). The aging 15-inch Titanium PowerBook G4 with Combo drive, 867 MHz G4, 256 MB of memory, and 40 GB hard drive is now $2,000, and the faster version with 1 GHz G4, 512 MB of memory, 60 GB hard drive, and SuperDrive sells for $2,600.

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We wouldn't be surprised if these price drops herald the coming release of a 15-inch aluminum PowerBook G4 to match the 12-inch and 17-inch models, perhaps along with a speed bump for the existing aluminum models. [MHA]