Many historians have credited the Gavilan as the first fully functional laptop computer. The First True Laptop Computer.

Laptop Computer History

1975

The first portable computer was the IBM 5100, released in September 1975. It weighed 55-pounds, which was much lighter and more portable than any other computer to date. While not truly a laptop by today's standards, it paved the way for the development of truly portable computers, i.e., laptops.

1976

Alan Kay came up with the idea of the laptop computer in 1976 while working at Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), calling it the Dynabook. He helped develop a prototype of his Dynabook, which was officially named the Xerox Note Taker.

1979

Bill Moggridge designed the GRiD Compass in 1979, the most portable computer at the time and the closest example of a laptop computer. NASA used the GRiD Compass in their space shuttle program in the early 1980s.

1981

Developed by Adam Osborne in April 1981, the Osborne I was the first truly portable computer and is recognized as the first true laptop computer. It weighed 24½-pounds and had a 5" display. Epson released the Epson HX-20 in 1981. It was the first portable computer with a built-in printer.

1983

Radio Shack released the TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer in the United States in 1983. It featured an LCD (liquid-crystal display), one of the first portable computers with that feature. The TRS-80 Model 100 was originally manufactured by Kyocera and sold in Japan, but later the rights were sold to Radio Shack.

1984

Commodore released the Commodore SX-64 in 1984, the first portable computer to feature a full-color display screen. It weighed about 20-pounds and sold for $995.

1986

IBM released their first laptop, the PC Convertible, in 1986. It weighed 12-pounds, making it the first laptop under 15-pounds.

1987

The U.S. Air Force issued an RFP (request for proposal), leading to the purchase of over 200,000 laptops. The contract for the manufacturing and purchase of these laptops was awarded to Zenith Data Systems. The Air Force's purchase of so many laptops helped pave the way for the popularity of laptop computers. Hewlett-Packard released the Vectra Portable CS laptop in 1987. It was one of the first laptops to feature a 3 ½" floppy disk drive capable of using 1.44 MB diskettes.

1988

Compaq released their first laptop computer in 1988, the Compaq SLT/286. It was the first battery-powered laptop to feature VGA (video graphics adapter) and an internal hard drive.

1989

Apple released their first laptop, the Macintosh Portable, in September 1989. Costing $6500 at release, it did not sell well and was not a popular laptop. NEC released the NEC UltraLite in 1989, considered to be the first notebook style laptop, weighing less than 5-pounds.

1991

After the flop of their Macintosh Portable laptop, Apple re-worked their laptop concept and released the PowerBook line of laptops in October 1991.

1992

IBM started selling their first ThinkPad laptop models, the 300, 700, and 700C, in October 1992. Microsoft and Intel worked together to develop and release APM (advanced power management) specification for laptop computers. Olivetti developed and released the first laptops featuring a touchpad in 1992.

1993

Considered as the first 2-in-1 laptop, the Compaq Concerto was released in 1993, featuring a detachable wired keyboard and stylus.

1994

IBM released the ThinkPad 775CD in 1994, the first laptop to feature an integrated CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) drive.

1996

The first laptop to feature an Intel Pentium processor, the Gateway Solo 2100, was released in 1996.

IBM released the RS/6000 860 laptop in 1996, the first laptop to feature a built-in webcam, with a $12,000 price tag.

1997

Toshiba released the first laptop in their popular Portege line, the Portege 300CT, in 1997.

2002

Toshiba released the Toshiba Portege 2000 in 2002, the thinnest laptop to be developed at only ¾ of an inch at the thickest part. It also featured the first 1.8-inch hard drive in a laptop.

2003

Apple announced their new PowerBook G4 laptop, the first laptop with a 17-inch screen, 802.11g Wi-Fi, and a backlit keyboard. Toshiba released the Toshiba Portege M100 in 2003, which is the first laptop to feature a slim DVD (digital versatile disc) drive.

2006

Apple began using Intel processors in their laptops in 2006.  Apple released their first MacBook Pro laptop in January 2006, featuring a 15-inch screen.

2007

ASUS released the Eee PC 701 in October 2007, which was the first netbook to be available. It featured a 7" screen, an Intel Celeron-M processor, and a 4 GB SDHC storage disk.

2008

Apple released their first MacBook Air laptop in January 2008, touting it as the thinnest available laptop.

HP (Hewlett-Packard) released their new TouchSmart tx2 laptop, the first 2-in-1 laptop with multi-touch capabilities, allowing for use of a stylus or multiple fingers for input.

2011

Acer and Samsung announce the release of their first Chromebook models at the Google I/O conference in May 2011.

2023

In January 2023, Samsung announced they are beginning to manufacture the first OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screens for laptops, in sizes of 13 inches and 16 inches. The OLED screens feature touch screen capabilities, 3K resolution, and up to a 120 Hz refresh rate.