For a while now, I've railed about Apple Computer Inc.'s refusal to bump up the resolution of its PowerBook line -- especially in light of the higher-resolution screens widely available on Windows laptops.

Whenever I asked Apple officials about the issue, the standard answer was that the company wanted to keep its screens at about 100 pixels per inch for readability reasons. At high resolutions, they said, text can get tiny.

Well, it looks like tiny text is in.

Last month, Apple finally came through for me -- and for all of those high-res fans who've wanted the same thing. The company unveiled a tweaked 17-in. PowerBook boasting a screen resolution of 1,680 by 1,050 pixels, 36 percent more than before and essentially the same resolution as the company's popular 20-in. Cinema Displays. The 15-in.-model screen was also changed and now sports almost the same resolution as the old 17-in. one. (Both models now support Apple's 30-in. Cinema Display, in case you want even more screen real estate.)

In addition to using new screens, Apple boosted battery life in the midrange and top-end PowerBooks by about an hour, although battery life estimates are like gas mileage stickers on new cars. A lot depends on how you drive.