Apple Macintosh PowerBook 520 vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)

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Macintosh PowerBook 520 compared with PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)

	AppleMacintosh PowerBook 520	ApplePowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
Overview
Released
Released	May 1994	October 2005
Display
Screen size
Screen size	9.5″	15.2″
Resolution
Resolution	640 × 480	1440 × 960 (better)
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	9.5-inch backlit FSTN passive-matrix greyscale LCD with 16 shades of grey	15.2-inch TFT widescreen, 1440 × 960; panel technology and refresh unpublished.
Performance
Processor
Processor	Motorola 68LC040 50 MHz (PowerBook 520)	PowerPC G4 1.67 GHz (PowerBook 15-inch Late 2005)
CPU cores
CPU cores	1	1
Graphics
Graphics	–	ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (128 MB DDR)
Memory
Memory	12 MB	512 MB or 2 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	240 MB	80 GB to 120 GB (better)
CPU
CPU	Motorola 68LC040 running internally at 50 MHz with a 25 MHz bus; 8 KB L1 cache and 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
GPU	–	ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 128 MB DDR and dual-link DVI standard
Memory type
Memory type	4 MB on the logic board, expandable to 36 MB; Apple's Japanese configurations supplied 12 MB	512 MB PC2-4200 DDR2 running at 333 MHz; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 2 GB.
Storage type
Storage type	Internal SCSI hard drive and 1.4 MB Apple SuperDrive floppy drive; Apple lists 160–240 MB drives in its English support sheet and 240/320 MB Japanese configurations	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)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 3.5 hours	Up to 5.5 hours
Weight
Weight	2.9 kg	–
Thickness
Thickness	57 mm	–
Width × depth
Width × depth	292 × 245 mm	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Removable nickel-metal hydride intelligent battery; Apple claimed 3.5 hours per battery, with room for a second battery	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
Charger	–	Power adapter included; wattage not established for this exact generation in the read family sheet.
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	ADB, RS-422 serial/LocalTalk, HDI-30 SCSI, AAUI Ethernet, mini-15 video and stereo audio input/output; an optional PCMCIA module supported two Type II or one Type III card	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
External displays	Built-in video output supports mirroring or an extended desktop with an optional Apple video adapter cable	Dual-link DVI supports 30-inch Cinema HD display; DVI-to-VGA and S-video-to-composite adapters included.
Keyboard
Keyboard	–	Full-size illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Built-in solid-state trackpad in place of a trackball	Two-finger scrolling/panning, tap, double-tap and drag support
Speakers
Speakers	Two built-in stereo speakers and a microphone	Stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	–	Internal omnidirectional microphone
In the box
In the box	Apple's Japanese 12 MB/240 MB configuration included one battery, power adapter and PowerBook Mobility Bundle software	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.