Apple Macintosh PowerBook 170 vs Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch, 1.5GHz)

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Macintosh PowerBook 170 compared with PowerBook G4 (17-inch, 1.5GHz)

	AppleMacintosh PowerBook 170	ApplePowerBook G4 (17-inch, 1.5GHz)
Overview
Released
Released	October 1991	2004
Display
Screen size
Screen size	10″	17″
Resolution
Resolution	640 × 400	1440 × 900 (better)
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	10-inch backlit active-matrix monochrome LCD, 640 × 400 pixels at 1-bit colour. Apple's 1991 product information rounds the diagonal to 10 inches; some later catalogues call it 9.8 inches.	17-inch TFT widescreen; panel technology and refresh unpublished.
Performance
Processor
Processor	68030 25 MHz (PowerBook 170)	PowerPC G4 1.5 GHz (PowerBook 17-inch 2004)
CPU cores
CPU cores	1	1
Graphics
Graphics	–	ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (64 MB DDR) or ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (128 MB DDR)
Memory
Memory	4 MB	512 MB or 2 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	40 MB	80 GB (better)
CPU
CPU	25 MHz Motorola 68030 and 25 MHz Motorola 68882 floating-point coprocessor; a Power Saver mode could run the processor at 16 MHz on battery.	1.5 GHz PowerPC G4, 512 KB on-chip L2 and 167 MHz bus. Exact silicon supplier omitted.
GPU
GPU	–	ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 64 MB DDR; 128 MB video-memory build-to-order option.
Memory type
Memory type	4 MB original configuration, comprising 2 MB on the logic board and a 2 MB expansion card; 8 MB maximum. Apple's later support sheet lists 2 MB as the minimum across its service configurations.	512 MB PC2700 DDR333 standard; two SO-DIMM slots, maximum 2 GB.
Storage type
Storage type	Original 40 MB internal SCSI hard drive with a built-in 1.4 MB SuperDrive floppy drive. Apple's later support sheet lists 40–80 MB drives.	80 GB 4200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 hard drive; 80 GB 5400 rpm build-to-order alternative. 4× DVD-R/CD-RW SuperDrive.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 3 hours	Up to 4.5 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	–	58 Wh
Weight
Weight	3.03 kg (better)	3.1 kg
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Removable nickel-cadmium battery; Apple claimed 2–3 hours of use, with about 30 minutes more in its 16 MHz Power Saver mode.	58 Wh lithium-ion, up to 4.5 hours. Maker reference 3.1 kg includes battery and optical drive and varies by configuration/manufacturing. Published dimensions: height 2.6 cm, width 39.2 cm, depth 25.9 cm.
Charger
Charger	–	65 W power adapter
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium enclosure
Connections
Ports
Ports	–	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	–	AirPort Extreme 802.11g/b
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	–	1.1
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	One Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) port, HDI-30 SCSI connector, two RS-422 serial ports, mono audio input and stereo output. A 2400-baud internal modem was standard.	Two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, Type I/II PC Card slot, DVI, S-video, audio input and headphone output.
External displays
External displays	–	Dual display/mirroring; external resolution up to 2048 × 1536. DVI-to-VGA and S-video-to-composite adapters included; ADC adapter separate.
Keyboard
Keyboard	Built-in keyboard with a centred 30 mm trackball below the keys.	Full-size illuminated fibre-optic keyboard with ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Built-in trackball.	Tap, double-tap and drag support
Speakers
Speakers	–	Two stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	–	Internal omnidirectional microphone
In the box
In the box	System 7.0.1, battery and AC adapter. Apple dates the model's introduction to 21 October 1991; the technical sheet does not state a separate first-sale day.	Apple announced 19 April 2004 and expected the 17-inch model in early May. Actual first on-sale month unestablished after a bounded search; year precision retained. Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and iLife ’04 supplied.