Apple · PowerBook
PowerBook G4 (Original 2001)
The original Titanium PowerBook G4, with a 15.2-inch widescreen display and 400 or 500 MHz processors in a slim metal enclosure.
- Size
- 15.2″
- Display
- –
- Processor
- PowerPC G4 400 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) or PowerPC G4 500 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001)
- Memory
- 128 MB – 1 GB
- Weight
- 2.4 kg
- Battery
- 5 h
What reviewers say
Reviewers praised the thin enclosure, wide clear display and firm keyboard. Macworld found strong gains in AltiVec applications but modest improvements in general work, and criticised difficult storage access. ATPM found the trackpad prone to accidental input and regretted the lack of a writable optical drive.
From macworld.com and atpm.com
Specifications
Report a wrong or missing specDisplay
- Screen size
- 15.2″
- Resolution
- 1152 × 768
- Touchscreen
- No
- Display type
- 15.2-inch TFT widescreen active-matrix display. Exact panel technology, brightness and built-in refresh unpublished.
Performance
- Processor
- PowerPC G4 400 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) or PowerPC G4 500 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001)
- CPU cores
- 1
- Graphics
- ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM)
- Memory
- 128 MB, 256 MB or 1 GB
- Storage
- 10 GB to 30 GB
- CPU
- 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 Rage Mobility 128 with 8 MB SDRAM and AGP 2 ×.
- Memory type
- 128 MB stock at 400 MHz or 256 MB at 500 MHz; two PC100 SO-DIMM slots support up to 1 GB.
- Storage type
- 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 hours
- Battery capacity
- 50 Wh
- Weight
- 2.4 kg
- Thickness
- 26 mm
- Width × depth
- 341 × 241 mm
- Battery life detail
- 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.
- Materials
- Titanium enclosure
Connections
- Ports
- 2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
- Wi-Fi
- Optional AirPort 802.11b
- Operating system
- macOS
- Port detail
- 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
- 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
- 77 US or 78 ISO keys; 12 function keys, four arrows and embedded numeric keypad.
- Trackpad
- Tap, double-tap and drag support
- Speakers
- Two built-in stereo speakers
- Microphones
- Internal omnidirectional microphone
- In the box
- 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.
Configurations
| Processor | Memory | Storage | Graphics |
|---|---|---|---|
| PowerPC G4 400 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) | 128 MB | 10 GB | ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM) |
| PowerPC G4 400 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) | 128 MB | 30 GB | ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM) |
| PowerPC G4 400 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) | 1 GB | 10 GB | ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM) |
| PowerPC G4 400 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) | 1 GB | 30 GB | ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM) |
| PowerPC G4 500 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) | 256 MB | 20 GB | ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM) |
| PowerPC G4 500 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) | 256 MB | 30 GB | ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM) |
| PowerPC G4 500 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) | 1 GB | 20 GB | ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM) |
| PowerPC G4 500 MHz (PowerBook Original 2001) | 1 GB | 30 GB | ATI Rage Mobility 128 (8 MB SDRAM) |
Pros and cons
Pros
- Titanium enclosure and widescreen display
- PC Card slot and FireWire
- VGA and S-video output
Cons
- DVD drive cannot write discs
- Wireless card sold separately
- No audio input jack
Closest rivals
Model | Size | Display | Processor | Memory | Weight | Battery | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15.2″ | – | PowerPC G4 1.67 GHz (PowerBook 15-inch Late 2005) | 512 MB – 2 GB | – | 5.5 h | Oct 2005 | |
| 15.2″ | – | PowerPC G4 667 MHz (PowerBook DVI) or PowerPC G4 800 MHz (PowerBook DVI) | 256 MB – 1 GB | 2.4 kg | 5 h | Apr 2002 | |
| 15.2″ | – | PowerPC G4 550 MHz (PowerBook Gigabit Ethernet) or PowerPC G4 667 MHz (PowerBook Gigabit Ethernet) | 128 MB – 1 GB | – | 5 h | Oct 2001 |
Newer model: PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet).
