Apple Macintosh PowerBook 190 vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacintosh PowerBook 190 | ApplePowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | August 1995 | October 2005 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 9.5″ | 15.2″ |
| Resolution | 640 × 480 | 1440 × 960 (better) |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | 9.5-inch backlit FSTN passive-matrix LCD, displaying 16 shades of grey at 640 × 480 | 15.2-inch TFT widescreen, 1440 × 960; panel technology and refresh unpublished. |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Motorola 68LC040 66 MHz (PowerBook 190) | PowerPC G4 1.67 GHz (PowerBook 15-inch Late 2005) |
| CPU cores | 1 | 1 |
| Graphics | – | ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (128 MB DDR) |
| Memory | 8 MB | 512 MB or 2 GB (better) |
| Storage | 500 MB | 80 GB to 120 GB (better) |
| CPU | Motorola 68LC040 running internally at 66 MHz with a 33 MHz bus; no floating-point unit | 1.67 GHz PowerPC G4 with 512 KB on-chip L2 and 167 MHz system bus. Exact silicon supplier omitted. |
| GPU | – | ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 128 MB DDR and dual-link DVI standard |
| Memory type | 8 MB in Apple's Japanese configuration, expandable to 40 MB with a third-party card | 512 MB PC2-4200 DDR2 running at 333 MHz; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 2 GB. |
| Storage type | 500 MB internal IDE hard drive and removable 1.4 MB Apple SuperDrive floppy module; IDE expansion bay supports other modules | 80 GB 5400 rpm Ultra ATA/100 standard with Sudden Motion Sensor. Build-to-order: 100 GB 5400 or 7200 rpm, or 120 GB 5400 rpm. 8× SuperDrive with 2.4× double-layer DVD+R support; optional Combo drive. Speed/optical alternatives retained here rather than duplicate capacity rows. |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 5 hours | Up to 5.5 hours |
| Weight | 2.7 kg | – |
| Thickness | 51.4 mm | – |
| Width × depth | 293 × 217 mm | – |
| Battery life detail | Removable nickel-metal hydride battery; Apple stated 2.5–5 hours per charge | Up to 5.5 hours, dependent on configuration and use. Retained maker family sheet publishes 15-inch reference weight 5.6 pounds, footprint 13.7 × 9.5 inches and thickness 1.1 inches; no calculated metric main values. Its detailed 58 Wh battery section is explicitly 17-inch and is not borrowed. |
| Charger | – | Power adapter included; wattage not established for this exact generation in the read family sheet. |
| Materials | – | Aluminium enclosure |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | – | 2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | – | AirPort Extreme 802.11g/b |
| Bluetooth | – | 2.0 + EDR |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | ADB, RS-422 serial/LocalTalk, HDI-30 SCSI and stereo headphone output; two Type II or one Type III PC Card slot; video and infrared available as optional upgrades | Two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800, Gigabit Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, DVI, S-video and Type I/II PC Card slot. Combined analogue/optical digital input and output. |
| External displays | Optional video output upgrade supports up to 256 colours on Apple and VGA/SVGA monitors | Dual-link DVI supports 30-inch Cinema HD display; DVI-to-VGA and S-video-to-composite adapters included. |
| Keyboard | Built-in keyboard with solid-state trackpad below the keys | Full-size illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor |
| Trackpad | Built-in solid-state trackpad | Two-finger scrolling/panning, tap, double-tap and drag support |
| Speakers | Built-in speaker and microphone; 16-bit stereo output through headphones | Stereo speakers |
| Microphones | – | Internal omnidirectional microphone |
| In the box | Apple's Japanese configuration included the removable battery, power adapter, System 7.5.2 CD-ROM, PowerBook Mobility Bundle and ClarisWorks 2.0 | Apple UK confirms immediate availability on 19 October 2005. Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and iLife ’05 supplied. The retained sheet’s configuration table covers all sizes but its detailed specification section describes the 17-inch; only the 15-inch table and explicit build-to-order fields are used here. |
More comparisons
- Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple Macintosh PowerBook 190
- Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
- Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2006) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, 1.67/1.5GHz) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (Original 2001)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch, Double-Layer SD)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, 1.5/1.33GHz) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch FW800) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch, 1.67GHz)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (12-inch, 1.5GHz) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (12-inch, 1.33GHz) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch, 1.5GHz)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch, 1.33GHz)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD) vs Apple PowerBook G4 17-inch (Early 2003)
- Apple PowerBook G4 (12-inch DVI) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
- Apple PowerBook G4 12-inch (Early 2003) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)

