Request a product

Apple Mac Pro (M2 Ultra) vs Apple Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2002)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMac Pro (M2 Ultra)ApplePower Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2002)
Overview
ReleasedJune 2023August 2002
Performance
ProcessorApple M2 Ultra2 × PowerPC G4 867 MHz (Power Mac Mirrored Drive Doors 2002), 2 × PowerPC G4 1000 MHz (Power Mac Mirrored Drive Doors 2002) or 2 × PowerPC G4 1250 MHz (Power Mac Mirrored Drive Doors 2002)
CPU cores242
Graphics60-core GPU or 76-core GPUNVIDIA GeForce4 MX (32 MB) or ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64 MB)
Memory64 GB, 128 GB or 192 GB256 MB, 512 MB or 2 GB
Storage1 TB to 8 TB60 GB to 120 GB
CPU24-core CPU with 16 performance cores and 8 efficiency coresDual 867 MHz, dual 1 GHz or dual 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processors; each physical processor has 256 KB on-chip L2 cache. 867 MHz and 1 GHz have 1 MB DDR SRAM L3 per processor; 1.25 GHz has 2 MB. System bus 133 MHz on dual 867, 167 MHz on dual 1/1.25 GHz. CPU count describes physical processors; supplier is not inferred.
GPU60-core or 76-core GPU; additional graphics cards and MPX modules are not supportedDual 867 MHz: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 32 MB DDR. Dual 1/1.25 GHz: ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 64 MB DDR. Optional NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 128 MB; independent CTO options are not expanded into unsupported stock combinations.
Memory type–Dual 867 MHz: 256 MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM at 266 MHz. Dual 1 GHz: 256 MB PC2700 DDR at 333 MHz; dual 1.25 GHz: 512 MB PC2700. Four DIMM slots support up to 2 GB. Configurations preserve stock processor/drive/graphics ties at base and maximum memory.
AI engine32-core Neural Engine–
Memory bandwidth800 GB/s–
Storage type1 TB SSD, configurable to 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB; two internal SATA connectors up to 6 Gb/s60/80/120 GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 stock drives respectively. Dual 867 MHz has Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW (CD-R 16x); faster models SuperDrive (DVD-R 2x, CD-R 8x). Four hard-drive bays support two ATA/100 and two ATA/66 drives, or up to four SCSI drives with a separately sold PCI card. Two optical bays, one occupied; optional second Combo drive. Maker optional storage choices remain in details rather than assumed CPU cross-pairs.
Media engineHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; two video decode engines, four video encode engines and four ProRes encode and decode engines–
Expansion slotsSix full-length PCIe 4.0 slots (two x16 and four x8); one half-length x4 PCIe 3.0 slot with Apple I/O card installed; up to 300 W auxiliary power through two 75 W six-pin and one 150 W eight-pin connectorsFour open full-length 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots and dedicated AGP 4x graphics slot.
Display
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports8 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-A, 2 × HDMI, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet10 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displaysUp to 8Up to 2
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6E–
Bluetooth5.3–
Front portsTwo Thunderbolt 4 ports on top of the tower or at the front of the rack enclosureHeadphone jack and built-in speaker.
Back portsSix Thunderbolt 4 ports with DisplayPort, USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; two USB-A up to 5 Gb/s; two HDMI; two 10 Gb Ethernet supporting 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 Gb/s; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support; additional internal USB-A up to 5 Gb/sTwo FireWire 400, two USB chassis ports (maker four-port total includes two keyboard ports), Gigabit Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, ADC/DVI, stereo audio line-in/out and Apple Pro Speakers minijack. Optional 11 Mbps AirPort 802.11b card. Bluetooth is a separately listed adapter, not built-in. No FireWire 800 in this 2002 generation.
External displaysUp to eight displays at 4K 60 Hz, six at 6K 60 Hz or three at 8K 60 Hz; each HDMI port supports one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz, with VRR, HDR and multichannel audioTwo displays in extended desktop or mirroring modes; ADC and DVI with included DVI-to-VGA adapter. Connecting two ADC displays requires a separately sold DVI-to-ADC adapter.
SpeakersBuilt-in speaker; HDMI multichannel audio outputBuilt-in speaker; optional Apple Pro Speakers.
Keyboard and mouseMagic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad, Magic Mouse; optional Magic TrackpadApple Pro Keyboard, optical Apple Pro Mouse, DVI-to-VGA adapter and modem cable.
Design and power
TypeTowerTower
Weight16.86 kg19.1 kg
Width × depth × height218 × 450 × 529 mm227 × 468 × 432 mm
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Size and weight detailTower with feet is 529 × 218 × 450 mm and 16.86 kg; optional wheels increase height to 557 mm. Rack enclosure is 5U, 220.2 × 482 × 539.5 mm including handles (493.5 mm from fascia), and 17.21 kg; rack depth range 609.6–1,066.8 mmExact maker reference weight 19.1 kg varies with configuration and manufacturing process; height 43.2, width 22.7, depth 46.8 cm. These published dimensions differ slightly from earlier G4 sheets and are retained.
Power supplyBuilt-in; maximum continuous power 1,280 W at 108–125 V or 220–240 V, or 1,180 W at 100–107 V100–125 V AC or 200–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz. Maximum current 6.5 A at low voltage or 7.5 A at high voltage; maker publishes no maximum wattage here.
Materials70% recycled aluminium in the enclosure–
ColoursSilver–
In the boxMac Pro, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad, Magic Mouse, 2 m power lead, 1 m USB-C charge cable; rack mount rails included with the rack enclosure, shipped separatelyMac OS X 10.2 Jaguar as default startup system, plus bootable Mac OS 9.2.2; iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes and iDVD for SuperDrive. Maker August 13 release says dual 867/1 GHz available that week, so first sale uses August month precision. Actual dual-1.25 GHz shipping confirmed 18 September. January 2003 FireWire 800 models and June 2003 reissue are separate generations.

More comparisons