Apple Mac Pro (M2 Ultra) vs Apple Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics)

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Mac Pro (M2 Ultra) compared with Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics)

	AppleMac Pro (M2 Ultra)	ApplePower Mac G4 (PCI Graphics)
Overview
Released
Released	June 2023	August 1999
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M2 Ultra	PowerPC G4 350 MHz (Power Mac PCI Graphics) or PowerPC G4 400 MHz (Power Mac PCI Graphics)
CPU cores
CPU cores	24	1
Graphics
Graphics	60-core GPU or 76-core GPU	ATI RAGE 128 (16 MB)
Memory
Memory	64 GB, 128 GB or 192 GB (better)	64 MB or 1 GB
Storage
Storage	1 TB to 8 TB (better)	10 GB
CPU
CPU	24-core CPU with 16 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores	Single 350 or 400 MHz PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine; 100 MHz system bus. Exact EveryMac PCI sheets specify 1 MB backside L2 cache; the retained maker page lists 512 KB or 1 MB without exact ties. No silicon supplier is inferred from Apple/Motorola/IBM co-development.
GPU
GPU	60-core or 76-core GPU; additional graphics cards and MPX modules are not supported	ATI RAGE 128 PCI graphics with 16 MB SDRAM. This is the PCI/Yikes board, distinct from the contemporary AGP model.
Memory type
Memory type	–	64 MB PC100 SDRAM standard. Four DIMM slots support up to 1 GB. Configurations preserve 10 GB factory storage at base and maximum RAM.
AI engine
AI engine	32-core Neural Engine	–
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	800 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	1 TB SSD, configurable to 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB; two internal SATA connectors up to 6 Gb/s	400 MHz launch configuration: 10 GB Ultra ATA/33 and 32x CD-ROM; October 1999 speed-reduced 350 MHz retains those factory specifications (EveryMac). Retained Apple sheet also lists 24x CD-ROM without precise configuration ties. Optional drives are not expanded into unsupported cross-combinations.
Media engine
Media engine	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; two video decode engines, four video encode engines and four ProRes encode and decode engines	–
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	Six 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 connectors	Three open 33 MHz PCI slots plus the 66 MHz PCI slot used by graphics.
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	8 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-A, 2 × HDMI, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack	2 × USB-A, Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet	10 Gb/s (better)	0.1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 8	–
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	–
Front ports
Front ports	Two Thunderbolt 4 ports on top of the tower or at the front of the rack enclosure	–
Back ports
Back ports	Six 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/s	Two chassis USB ports at 12 Mbps, two external FireWire 400 ports, VGA, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K modem and analog audio input/output. The retained maker FireWire count of three is not supported by the exact PCI port specification (EveryMac). No AirPort slot; keyboard ports are not included.
External displays
External displays	Up 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 audio	VGA output from the PCI graphics card.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; HDMI multichannel audio output	Built-in speaker. Audio line-out is not counted as a dedicated headphone jack.
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad, Magic Mouse; optional Magic Trackpad	Apple USB Keyboard and Apple USB Mouse.
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	16.86 kg	–
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	218 × 450 × 529 mm	–
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Tower 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 mm	Maker publishes 17-inch height, 8.9-inch width, 18.4-inch depth and 30-pound weight. Metric main fields omitted; no unit conversion or sibling measurements.
Power supply
Power supply	Built-in; maximum continuous power 1,280 W at 108–125 V or 220–240 V, or 1,180 W at 100–107 V	Maximum continuous power 200 W.
Materials
Materials	70% recycled aluminium in the enclosure	–
Colours
Colours	Silver	–
In the box
In the box	Mac 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 separately	Mac OS 8.6. Full contemporary AppleInsider report says Jobs confirmed the 400 MHz configuration shipping immediately on 31 August 1999; the Canadian maker release instead promises September. First-sale month uses the named US report without implying universal regional availability.