Apple iBook G4 (12-inch, Late 2004) vs Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M4)

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iBook G4 (12-inch, Late 2004) compared with MacBook Air 13″ (M4)

	AppleiBook G4 (12-inch, Late 2004)	AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M4)
Overview
Released
Released	October 2004	March 2025
Display
Screen size
Screen size	12.1″	13.6″
Resolution
Resolution	1024 × 768	2560 × 1664 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	60 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	–	500 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Active-matrix TFT XGA display supporting millions of colours. Exact panel technology, brightness and built-in refresh rate are unpublished in the cited maker sheet.	Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	224 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	–	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Display features
Display features	–	True Tone
Performance
Processor
Processor	PowerPC G4 1200 MHz (iBook Late 2004)	Apple M4
CPU cores
CPU cores	1	10
Graphics
Graphics	ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 (32 MB DDR)	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	–	38 TOPS
Memory
Memory	256 MB or 1.25 GB	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	30 GB	256 GB to 2 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	PowerPC G4 at 1.2 GHz, with Velocity Engine, 512 KB on-chip L2 cache at processor speed and 133 MHz system bus. Exact silicon model and supplier are not published in the cited maker sheets.	10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 with 32 MB dedicated DDR SDRAM and AGP 4× support.	8-core or 10-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode
AI engine
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Memory type	PC2100 266 MHz DDR SDRAM; 256 MB soldered and one empty SO-DIMM slot. Factory totals 512 MB, 768 MB or 1.25 GB; maximum 1.25 GB.	Unified memory
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	120 GB/s
Storage type
Storage type	4200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 hard drive; 60 GB and 80 GB factory upgrades. The 12-inch starts at 30 GB with a DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive. Both 1.33 GHz 14-inch stocks have 60 GB: M9627 has a Combo drive and M9628 a 4× DVD-R SuperDrive. These optical variants share one set of processor/memory/storage configurations.	SSD, configurable up to 2 TB
Cooling
Cooling	–	Fanless
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 6 hours	Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	50 Wh	53.8 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	2.2 kg	1.24 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	34.2 mm	11.3 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	285 × 230 mm	304.1 × 215 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Removable 50 Wh lithium-ion battery, with charge-indicator LEDs; maker claim up to six hours. Published 2.2 kg reference weight varies with configuration and manufacturing process.	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery
Charger
Charger	–	30 W USB-C adapter with the 8-core GPU model; 35 W Dual USB-C Port adapter with the 10-core GPU model
Fast charging
Fast charging	–	With the 70 W USB-C Power Adapter
Materials
Materials	White polycarbonate enclosure	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; more than 55% recycled content overall
Colours
Colours	White	Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	AirPort Extreme 802.11g	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	–	5.3
Webcam
Webcam	–	12MP Center Stage
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	Two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 port, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, stereo headphone output and Mini-VGA video output. AirPort Extreme is included according to the stock configurations and UK launch notice; a generic technical paragraph still calls it optional. Internal Bluetooth is optional; version unpublished.	2 × Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 (up to 40 Gb/s); MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support
External displays
External displays	VGA mirroring through the included Apple VGA adapter; S-video and composite TV output require the optional Apple Video Adapter. Extended desktop is unsupported.	Up to two at up to 6K 60 Hz, alongside the built-in display
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size keyboard with 77 US or 78 ISO keys, 12 function keys, four arrow keys and an embedded numeric keypad.	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys
Trackpad
Trackpad	Trackpad with a separate button; tap, double-tap and drag capabilities.	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers	Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	Built-in microphone	Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes
Biometrics
Biometrics	–	Touch ID
In the box
In the box	iBook, rechargeable battery, power adapter, Apple VGA Video Adapter, software and documentation. Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and iLife ’04 at launch. Later review units bundled Tiger and iLife ’05.	13-inch MacBook Air, 30 W or 35 W Dual USB-C Port power adapter (by model), USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)