Apple Macintosh PowerBook 540 vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)

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Macintosh PowerBook 540 compared with PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)

	AppleMacintosh PowerBook 540	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 active-matrix greyscale LCD with 64 grey levels at 640 × 480	15.2-inch TFT widescreen, 1440 × 960; panel technology and refresh unpublished.
Performance
Processor
Processor	Motorola 68LC040 66 MHz (PowerBook 540c)	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	4 MB	512 MB or 2 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	240 MB	80 GB to 120 GB (better)
CPU
CPU	Motorola 68LC040 with 66 MHz internal processor speed and 33 MHz bus interface; 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 through one memory expansion slot	512 MB PC2-4200 DDR2 running at 333 MHz; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 2 GB.
Storage type
Storage type	240 MB internal SCSI hard drive and Apple SuperDrive floppy drive	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 hours	Up to 5.5 hours
Weight
Weight	3.2 kg	–
Thickness
Thickness	58 mm	–
Width × depth
Width × depth	292 × 246 mm	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Two high-capacity Type II nickel-metal hydride batteries supplied; Apple claims 1.5–3 hours on one battery or 3–6 hours on two	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, serial/LocalTalk, AAUI Ethernet, HDI-30 SCSI, external video, stereo sound input/output and power input; optional internal modem and processor-direct PCMCIA expansion module	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	Video output supports compatible external Apple displays through an adapter; built-in greyscale display can be upgraded to active-matrix colour with Apple's optional upgrade	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	Two-finger scrolling/panning, tap, double-tap and drag support
Speakers
Speakers	Two built-in speakers and microphone with 16-bit stereo sound	Stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	–	Internal omnidirectional microphone
In the box
In the box	Notebook, two batteries and power adapter; preinstalled PowerBook Mobility Bundle. Dimensions and metric weight come from Apple's October 1994 Apple Facts	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.