Apple Macintosh PowerBook 520 vs Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch, 1.5GHz)

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Macintosh PowerBook 520 compared with PowerBook G4 (17-inch, 1.5GHz)

	AppleMacintosh PowerBook 520	ApplePowerBook G4 (17-inch, 1.5GHz)
Overview
Released
Released	May 1994	2004
Display
Screen size
Screen size	9.5″	17″
Resolution
Resolution	640 × 480	1440 × 900 (better)
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	9.5-inch backlit FSTN passive-matrix greyscale LCD with 16 shades of grey	17-inch TFT widescreen; panel technology and refresh unpublished.
Performance
Processor
Processor	Motorola 68LC040 50 MHz (PowerBook 520)	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	12 MB	512 MB or 2 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	240 MB	80 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	1.5 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 on the logic board, expandable to 36 MB; Apple's Japanese configurations supplied 12 MB	512 MB PC2700 DDR333 standard; two SO-DIMM slots, maximum 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 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 3.5 hours	Up to 4.5 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	–	58 Wh
Weight
Weight	2.9 kg (better)	3.1 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	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	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, 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	Built-in video output supports mirroring or an extended desktop with an optional Apple video adapter cable	Dual display/mirroring; external resolution up to 2048 × 1536. DVI-to-VGA and S-video-to-composite adapters included; ADC adapter separate.
Keyboard
Keyboard	–	Full-size illuminated fibre-optic keyboard with ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Built-in solid-state trackpad in place of a trackball	Tap, double-tap and drag support
Speakers
Speakers	Two built-in stereo speakers and a microphone	Two 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 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.