Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch, Double-Layer SD) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (Original 2001)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| ApplePowerBook G4 (17-inch, Double-Layer SD) | ApplePowerBook G4 (Original 2001) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | October 2005 | January 2001 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 17″ | 15.2″ |
| Resolution | 1680 × 1050 (better) | 1152 × 768 |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | 17-inch TFT widescreen; panel technology, absolute brightness and refresh rate unpublished on maker sheet | 15.2-inch TFT widescreen active-matrix display. Exact panel technology, brightness and built-in refresh unpublished. |
| Display features | Millions of colours at native resolution; maker UK launch claims up to 46% brighter than preceding 17-inch model | – |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | PowerPC G4 1.67 GHz (PowerBook 17-inch Late 2005) | PowerPC G4 400 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) or PowerPC G4 500 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) |
| CPU cores | 1 | 1 |
| Graphics | ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (128 MB DDR) | ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM) |
| Memory | 512 MB, 1 GB or 2 GB (better) | 128 MB, 256 MB or 1 GB |
| Storage | 100 GB to 120 GB (better) | 10 GB to 30 GB |
| CPU | 1.67 GHz PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine, 512 KB on-chip L2 SRAM and 167 MHz system bus; exact silicon supplier/process omitted | 400 or 500 MHz PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine; 1 MB backside L2 cache on 200 or 250 MHz dedicated 64-bit cache bus, 100 MHz system bus, 64 KB L1 (32 KB data/32 KB instruction). Exact supplier/SKU omitted. |
| GPU | ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with AGP 4× support, 128 MB DDR video memory and dual-link DVI | ATI Rage Mobility 128 with 8 MB SDRAM and AGP 2 ×. |
| Memory type | 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 | 128 MB stock at 400 MHz or 256 MB at 500 MHz; two PC100 SO-DIMM slots support up to 1 GB. |
| Storage type | 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 | 400 MHz stock 10 GB, 500 MHz stock 20 GB Ultra ATA/66. Maker-listed 30 GB build-to-order option retained for both with published RAM maxima; no intermediate capacities invented. Slot-loading DVD-ROM reads DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-RAM and CD-ROM. |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 5.5 hours | Up to 5 hours |
| Battery capacity | 58 Wh (better) | 50 Wh |
| Weight | 3.1 kg | 2.4 kg (better) |
| Thickness | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Width × depth | 392 × 259 mm | 341 × 241 mm |
| Battery life detail | 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 | 50 Wh lithium-ion; up to five hours maker claim. Published 2.4 kg includes battery and varies by configuration/manufacturing process. Metric dimensions 34.1 × 24.1 × 2.6 cm are from the exact Apple technical sheet preserved by SavageTaylor, not calculated from inches. |
| Charger | 65 W power adapter with cable management system | – |
| Materials | Aluminium enclosure | Titanium enclosure |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack | 2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | AirPort Extreme 802.11g/b | Optional AirPort 802.11b |
| Bluetooth | 2.0 + EDR | – |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | 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 | Two 12 Mbps USB ports, one 400 Mbps FireWire port, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem, 4 Mbps IrDA, one Type I/II PC Card/CardBus slot with ZoomVideo support, VGA, S-video and stereo output; no microphone input jack. |
| External displays | 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 | VGA 24-bit video output and S-video, with S-video-to-composite adapter. 8 MB video memory supports millions of colours on external monitors up to 21 inches (preserved exact maker sheet). |
| 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 | 77 US or 78 ISO keys; 12 function keys, four arrows and embedded numeric keypad. |
| Trackpad | Solid-state trackpad with tap, double-tap, drag and scrolling support | Tap, double-tap and drag support |
| Speakers | Two built-in stereo speakers | Two built-in stereo speakers |
| Microphones | Internal omnidirectional microphone | Internal omnidirectional microphone |
| In the box | 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 | Power adapter, DVD software, iMovie 2 and iTunes. Maker promised January availability; LowEndMac reported actual retail collection on 31 January 2001. First sale day unestablished, so month retained. |
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