Apple Macintosh PowerBook 540 vs Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch, Double-Layer SD)

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Macintosh PowerBook 540 compared with PowerBook G4 (17-inch, Double-Layer SD)

	AppleMacintosh PowerBook 540	ApplePowerBook G4 (17-inch, Double-Layer SD)
Overview
Released
Released	May 1994	October 2005
Display
Screen size
Screen size	9.5″	17″
Resolution
Resolution	640 × 480	1680 × 1050 (better)
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	9.5-inch active-matrix greyscale LCD with 64 grey levels at 640 × 480	17-inch TFT widescreen; panel technology, absolute brightness and refresh rate unpublished on maker sheet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	Motorola 68LC040 66 MHz (PowerBook 540c)	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	240 MB	100 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 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 on the logic board, expandable to 36 MB through one memory expansion slot	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	240 MB internal SCSI hard drive and Apple SuperDrive floppy drive	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	3.2 kg	3.1 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	58 mm	26 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	292 × 246 mm	392 × 259 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	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	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 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	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	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	–	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 solid-state trackpad	Solid-state trackpad with tap, double-tap, drag and scrolling support
Speakers
Speakers	Two built-in speakers and microphone with 16-bit stereo sound	Two built-in 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	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