Apple Macintosh PowerBook 170 vs Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch, Double-Layer SD)

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Macintosh PowerBook 170 compared with PowerBook G4 (17-inch, Double-Layer SD)

	AppleMacintosh PowerBook 170	ApplePowerBook G4 (17-inch, Double-Layer SD)
Overview
Released
Released	October 1991	October 2005
Display
Screen size
Screen size	10″	17″
Resolution
Resolution	640 × 400	1680 × 1050 (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later catalogues call it 9.8 inches.	17-inch TFT widescreen; panel technology, absolute brightness and refresh rate unpublished on maker sheet
Display features
Display features	–	Millions of colours at native resolution; maker UK launch claims up to 46% brighter than preceding 17-inch model
Performance
Processor
Processor	68030 25 MHz (PowerBook 170)	PowerPC G4 1.67 GHz (PowerBook 17-inch Late 2005)
CPU cores
CPU cores	1	1
Graphics
Graphics	–	ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (128 MB DDR)
Memory
Memory	4 MB	512 MB, 1 GB or 2 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	40 MB	100 GB to 120 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.	1.67 GHz PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine, 512 KB on-chip L2 SRAM and 167 MHz system bus; exact silicon supplier/process omitted
GPU
GPU	–	ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with AGP 4× support, 128 MB DDR video memory and dual-link DVI
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 PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM running at 333 MHz standard in one SO-DIMM; two slots, maximum 2 GB, with 512 MB and 1 GB module options
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.	120 GB 5400 rpm Ultra ATA/100 standard or 100 GB 7200 rpm build-to-order, with Sudden Motion Sensor. Slot-loading 8× DVD±R SuperDrive supports 2.4× double-layer DVD+R, 4× DVD±RW, 24× CD-R and 16× CD-RW; optional DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 3 hours	Up to 5.5 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	–	58 Wh
Weight
Weight	3.03 kg (better)	3.1 kg
Thickness
Thickness	–	26 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	–	392 × 259 mm
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 with charge indicator LEDs; maker up to 5.5 hours depends on configuration and use. Maker reference 3.1 kg includes battery and optical drive and varies by configuration/manufacturing. Metric dimensions are maker centimetres expressed in millimetres
Charger
Charger	–	65 W power adapter with cable management system
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium enclosure
Connections
Ports
Ports	–	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	–	AirPort Extreme 802.11g/b
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	–	2.0 + EDR
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 at up to 480 Mbps, FireWire 800 and 400, Gigabit Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, DVI, S-video and Type I/II PC Card slot; combined optical-digital/analogue input and output minijacks; Kensington lock slot
External displays
External displays	–	Simultaneous native 1680 × 1050 internal and up to 2560 × 1600 external display with millions of colours; dual-link DVI, including 30-inch Cinema HD display; mirroring, VGA with included DVI adapter, composite with included S-video adapter
Keyboard
Keyboard	Built-in keyboard with a centred 30 mm trackball below the keys.	Full-size illuminated fibre-optic keyboard with ambient light sensor; 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, inverted-T arrows and embedded keypad
Trackpad
Trackpad	Built-in trackball.	Solid-state trackpad with tap, double-tap, drag and scrolling support
Speakers
Speakers	–	Two built-in 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.	Power adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, lithium-ion battery, modem cable, DVI-to-VGA and S-video-to-composite adapters; Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and iLife ’05 supplied. Apple UK confirms immediate availability on 19 October 2005