The Apple PowerBook G4 is a laptop manufactured by Apple Computer, powered by PowerPC G4 processors initially produced by Motorola, but now produced by Freescale, a Motorola spin-off.
The TiBook
The first generation of PowerBook G4s were announced at Steve Jobs' keynote at MacWorld Expo in January 2001. They featured a titanium enclosure (later earning them the nickname "TiBook") and a Motorola G4 processor running at either 400 or 500 MHz. They were just 1 inch (25 mm) thick, 0.7 inches (18 mm) thinner than their predecessor, the PowerBook G3. The PowerBook G4 Titanium also featured a front-mounted slot-loading optical drive into which optical discs (initially DVDs or CDs) could be inserted.
The initial design of the PowerBook G4s was developed by Apple hardware designers, Jory Bell, Nick Merz and Danny Delulis. [1] The PowerBook Titanium product line was updated several times, with features such as Gigabit Ethernet, DVI connectors, and an optional SuperDrive DVD burner. The last revision was released in November 2002, in 867 and 1000 MHz models.
Quality Issues
The hinges on the Titanium PowerBook display are notorious for breaking under heavy use. Usually the hinge (which is shaped like an 'L') will break just to the left of where it attaches to the lower case on the right hinge, and just to the right on the left hinge (where the right hinge is on the right side of the computer when the optical drive is facing you). At least one manufacturer began producing sturdier replacement hinges to address this problem, though actually performing the repair is difficult as the display bezel is glued together.
The AlBook
In January, 2003, Apple introduced a new line of PowerBook G4s with 12- and 17-inch screens and aluminum cases (prompting the new monicker "AlBook"). Notably, Yao Ming and Verne Troyer did commercials for the 12- and 17-inch models.
At the Apple Expo in Paris on September 16, 2003, Apple added the 15-inch aluminum PowerBook to the portable computer lineup and introduced minor upgrades to the existing 12- and 17-inch models. The 15- and 17-inch models were widescreen, with respective 3:2 and 16:10 aspect ratios, while the 12-inch model featured a conventional 4:3 aspect ratio.
In February, 2005, along with minor speed upgrades, Apple officially introduced an updated USB trackpad, replacing the ADB trackpads used for almost a decade. These new devices, which were also included in some PowerBooks sold in late 2004, allowed users to scroll in any direction, much like a scroll wheel found on computer mice by using two fingers on the pad instead of the normal single finger. This was an often-requested feature, as shown by the third party trackpad driver Sidetrack that added a similar ability to older PowerBooks and iBooks. A technology called Sudden Motion Sensor which monitors the orientation of the laptop and detects sudden changes in velocity was also introduced at this time. PowerBooks were designed to utilize the SMS feature to prevent damage to the hard disk caused by strong vibrations or sudden motion. When the SMS feature is triggered, the disk heads are disengaged from the hard disk platters, thereby preventing or minimizing data loss which may occur as a result of disk head crash. Various hacks have harnessed the output of the SMS feature for use in "tilt-sensitive" applications.
The current PowerBook G4 generation, announced October 19, 2005, consists of 12-, 15- and 17-inch models in aluminum enclosures. The 17-inch model, one of the few laptops in production with such a large display, now features a screen resolution of 1680x1050, equal to that of Apple's 20-inch iMac or Cinema Display, while the 15-inch model now offers 1440x960 resolution, 60 pixels higher than that of previous 17-inch PowerBooks. All PowerBooks now ship with 8x DVD-burning SuperDrives, with dual-layer drives on the 15- and 17-inch models. The slot-loading Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive is available as a build-to-order option. The 15-inch model joins the 17-inch model in natively supporting Apple's 30 inch Cinema Display, and hard disk space now ranges from 80 to 120 GB with speeds of 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM. Other PowerBook specifications remain unchanged, with 1.5 GHz and 1.67 GHz CPUs; 512 MB to 2 GB of RAM (with a maximum of 1.25 GB on the 12-inch); the nVidia GeForce FX Go5200 (64 MB) on the 12-inch and the ATI Technologies Radeon 9700 Mobility GPUs with 128 MB of VRAM and Dual-Link DVI on the 15- and 17-inch, and many other features. The 17-inch model now uses PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM.
While the Titanium PowerBook G4s were capable of running Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X operating systems, the aluminum PowerBook G4s can only run Mac OS X from startup. Both series of machines can run Mac OS 9 in Classic Mode from within Mac OS X.
Toyo Rikagaku Kenkyusho in Japan manufactures the body of PowerBook G4s.
Quality Issues
Some users of recent Aluminum PowerBook models are reporting a design flaw resulting in the failure of their PowerBook's lower memory slot. The typical resolution is replacement of the Logic Board, similar to iBook failures. A Petition was started in early June 2005 and as of October 2005 has collected 766 signatures.
Another issue came to light concerning the amount of heat generated inside the Powerbook G4 by its internal processors. The fan included does not seem to dissipate much of the heat. This, some critics contend, can cause issues with the logic board functionality, and even in some cases cause the hard drive to crash.