The PowerBook 5300 (1995)

Apple’s PowerBook laptops were quite successful in the early nineties, but once again the company got a bit too ambitious in its attempts to dominate the market.

The result was that PowerBook 5300, the first to use the PowerPC chips that would end up at the heart of all Apple’s Macs until its switch to Intel in 2006. Apple wanted to make this its smallest and most powerful laptop ever, and even added hot-swappable expansion modules and support for using an external monitor.

Unfortunately, Apple packed a bit too much into the 5300, resulting in design flaws that earned it a place among the worst Apple products of all time. It was one of the first laptops to actually become known for spontaneously bursting into flames. However, even users who were fortunate enough to avoid that problem encountered cracked cases, broken hinges, and frayed cables.

Unflatteringly dubbed “the HindenBook” by Apple fans, the PowerBook 5300 was discontinued after less than a year.