Apple PowerBook G3 Series (September 1998) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)

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PowerBook G3 Series (September 1998) compared with PowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)

	ApplePowerBook G3 Series (September 1998)	ApplePowerBook G4 (15-inch, Double-Layer SD)
Overview
Released
Released	September 1998	October 2005
Display
Screen size
Screen size	14.1″	15.2″
Resolution
Resolution	1024 × 768 or 800 × 600	1440 × 960 (better)
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Active-matrix TFT; 14.1-inch XGA 1024 × 768 or later 12.1-inch SVGA 800 × 600; resolution scaling supports lower resolutions	15.2-inch TFT widescreen, 1440 × 960; panel technology and refresh unpublished.
Performance
Processor
Processor	PowerPC G3 233 MHz (PowerBook G3 Series September 1998), PowerPC G3 266 MHz (PowerBook G3 Series September 1998) or PowerPC G3 300 MHz (PowerBook G3 Series September 1998)	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	32 MB or 64 MB	512 MB or 2 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	2 GB to 8 GB	80 GB to 120 GB (better)
CPU
CPU	PowerPC G3 at 233, 266 or 300 MHz, 66 MHz system bus; 512 KB backside cache on 233 MHz or 1 MB on 266/300 MHz. Dedicated backside buses 117, 133 or 150 MHz; integrated FPU and 64 KB L1 cache	1.67 GHz PowerPC G4 with 512 KB on-chip L2 and 167 MHz system bus. Exact silicon supplier omitted.
GPU
GPU	ATI RAGE LT PRO with 4 MB SGRAM on 14.1-inch or 2 MB on 12.1-inch TFT; earlier passive-matrix models remain in the original May entry	ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 128 MB DDR and dual-link DVI standard
Memory type
Memory type	32 MB or 64 MB factory SDRAM in two 144-pin SO-DIMM slots; original maker expansion limit 192 MB	512 MB PC2-4200 DDR2 running at 333 MHz; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 2 GB.
Storage type
Storage type	Removable 2 GB, 4 GB or 8 GB internal IDE drive. Expansion bays accept CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, optional floppy, battery and third-party modules; 20× CD-ROM or 1.5× DVD-ROM with up to 12× CD reading	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
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	49 Wh	–
Weight
Weight	3.5 kg	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Removable 49 Wh lithium-ion battery; up to 3.5 hours with one or seven hours with two under maker normal-use conditions. Reference 3.5 kg includes modem, battery and CD-ROM; 12.1-inch reference is 3.3 kg. Maker sources give rounded dimensions and conflicting axis labels, so no unqualified dimensions adopted	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	45 W AC adapter	Power adapter included; wattage not established for this exact generation in the read family sheet.
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium enclosure
Connections
Ports
Ports	Ethernet, headphone jack	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, HDI-30 SCSI, RS-422 serial, 10BASE-T Ethernet, RJ-11 K56flex/V.90 modem, 4 Mbps infrared, VGA-style video, S-video and stereo audio input/output. Two Type I/II or one Type III PC Card slots with CardBus; lower slot supports Zoomed Video. No built-in USB or FireWire	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	VGA-style and S-video output; DVD-Video requires the decoder PC Card supplied with DVD-ROM configurations or optional DVD-Video kit	Dual-link DVI supports 30-inch Cinema HD display; DVI-to-VGA and S-video-to-composite adapters included.
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size keyboard with 76 US or 77 ISO keys, twelve function keys, inverted-T arrows and embedded keypad	Full-size illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Solid-state trackpad supports tap, double-tap and drag	Two-finger scrolling/panning, tap, double-tap and drag support
Speakers
Speakers	Two built-in stereo speakers	Stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	Internal omnidirectional microphone	Internal omnidirectional microphone
In the box
In the box	Mac OS 8.1, AC adapter and regional cables/adapters. AppleCare article 30895 retrospectively confirms September 1998 release; revised service manual introduces M7229 12.1-inch TFT on 1 October. October brochure lists both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM 300 MHz choices; optical-drive variants share the same CPU/RAM/disk configuration below	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.