15" PowerBook G4

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PowerBook

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PowerBook G4

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Tech Specs

15″ PowerBook G4 (Late 2002)

LEM Staff - 2002.11.06

Titanium PowerBook G4A bit more than six months after bumping the fastest TiBook from 667 MHz to 800 MHz, Apple once again updated the titanium workhorse with faster processors (867 MHz and 1 GHz) and ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics.

The Radeon 9000 comes with 32 MB of video memory on the slower model, 64 MB on the faster 1 GHz model. The 867 MHz TiBook has an 8x8x24x Combo drive that can burn CDs as well as read DVDs, and the 1 GHz model has a full-fledged SuperDrive that allows it to burn DVDs. Both models also have 1 MB of Level 3 backside cache which is based on DDR SDRAM.

Final revision of a design trendsetter

Overall, the design of the Titanium PowerBook G4 was the very first in Apple’s lineup to feature a design language that influences ‘Books decades after its discontinuation. Many successors such as the Aluminum PowerBooks, MacBook Pros, Unibody MacBook Pros, and even modern Apple Silicon MacBook Pros pay homage to the TiBook. The 867 MHz/1 GHz Late 2002 was the very last revision of this trendsetter design dating back to 2001. Here are some key design choices which started on the TiBook, and have since made their way in future Apple ‘Books:

  • The very first ‘Book to have a metal enclosure.
  • Long, rectangular speaker grilles to the left and right of the keyboard consisting of rows and columns of small circular holes: these can be seen throughout the Aluminum PowerBooks, Aluminum Pre-Unibody MacBook Pros, Unibody MacBook Pros, Retina MacBook Pros, TouchBar MacBook Pros, and now even the Apple Silicon MacBook Pros.
  • A circular power button on the top right corner: Made it all the way through the Unibody MacBook Pros. The Retina MacBook Pro reiterates the top-right keyboard power button, and the Touch Bar MacBook Pros integrate a power button with Touch ID.
    • The shiny machined aluminum power button is reminiscent of the “Lauchpad” icon used in OS X Lion through Mavericks, which lasted through 2013. The button design remained the same on PowerBooks and survived the intel transition.
  • Model information about the ‘Book is now engraved onto the case rather than being a sticker like in older PowerBooks.
  • The Apple logo orientation is flipped and now visibly glows: All previous ‘Books (including the iBook Clamshell) had an upside-down Apple Logo when the ‘Book is opened up.
  • The rubber feet are now symmetrically sitting under each corner of the ‘Book, there are 4, and are circular. Older ‘Books used various combinations of rubber feet for stability.
  • Vent holes in the center-rear under the display: this design choice is reflected from thereon out in most ‘Book designs.
  • Front-facing slot loading optical drive: Seen all the way through to October 2008, when the last Aluminum non-unibody MacBook Pros sold.
  • Putting some expansion/connectors on the sides: While this is more of an Aluminum PowerBook G4 thing, the TiBook does have a headphone jack and PCMCIA slot on it’s left side.
  • A small bezel around the screen. The first ‘Book to even have one so thin!
  • A slight impression into the metal top case as a border around the keyboard: Still seen to this day on the Apple Silicon MacBook Pros.
  • A metal body combined with a black keyboard: While the aluminum PowerBooks and pre-unibody MacBook Pros didn’t have this, it was a design trend picked back up with the introduction of the unibody MacBook Pro, and continues to this day.

Closed Lid Mode

All PowerBook G4s support “lid closed” (or clamshell) mode, which leaves the built-in display off and dedicates all video RAM to an external display.

To used closed lid mode, your ‘Book must be plugged into the AC adapter and connected to an external display and a USB or Bluetooth mouse and keyboard (you might also want to consider external speakers). Power up your ‘Book until the desktop appears on the external display and then close the lid. Your ‘Book will go to sleep, but you can wake it by moving the mouse or using the keyboard. The built-in display will remain off, and the external monitor will become your only display. Since all video RAM is now dedicated to the external monitor, you may have more colors available at higher resolutions.

The TiBook is designed to run safely in closed lid mode, but if yours runs hot (perhaps due to overclocking or high ambient temperatures), you may want to open the lid when in closed lid mode: The screen will remain off and the computer will more easily vent heat from the CPU.

To resume use of the internal display, you need to disconnect the external display, put the computer to sleep, and then open the lid. This will wake up your ‘Book and restore use of the built-in display.

What You Need to Know

  • Do not under any circumstances use the Password Security control panel with any PowerBook running Mac OS 9 – see PowerBook (FireWire): Late Breaking News – it will render your PowerBook inoperable. The only fix is to put the drive in an older PowerBook, open Password Security, go to Setup, and click the Reset button, and then put the drive back in your ‘Book.
  • There is an incompatibility between the Kensington Startup ADB extension (part of Kensington MouseWorks) and the Trackpad control with Mac OS 9.0.4. The trackpad will respond during boot, but not after the extension loads. The solution is to disable the extension. This may apply to other versions of Mac OS 9 on ‘Books with USB ports.
  • This model PowerBook uses ATA/66 (ATA-5), which means you’re limited to a maximum of 128 GB of storage without 3rd party hardware or software modification.

Details

  • Announced November 6th, 2002
  • Apple model number: A1025 (EMC N/A)
  • Model ID: PowerBook3,5
  • Order Number: M8858LL/A (867 Mhz)
    • M8859LL/A (1 GHz)
  • Nickname: TiBook
  • Discontinued on September 16th, 2003

How it stacks up in Geekbench

  • Version 2.4.3: 505 (867 MHz) / 556 (1 Ghz) / 918 (1.6 SP G5 Baseline)

Unsupported Mac OS X

  • Although it is not officially supported, the 17″ PowerBook G4 1 Ghz can run Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard using a MacRumors community developed build. It is currently still in development based off the Darwin 10.8.0 kernel compiled from source. See LEM Article.

Mac OS X

  • Requires Mac OS 9.2.2 or Mac OS X 10.2.1 Jaguar through Mac OS X 10.5.8.

Core System

This TiBook shipped with a PowerPC G4 Motorola 7455 180nm CPU. System Bus is 167 MHz, and the CPU is soldiered (not on any card or socket).

  • ($2299): 867 Mhz, 1 Processor, 1 Core, 1 Thread, 1 Core Per-CPU
    18.5W TDP, 64KB L1, 256KB L2, 1MB DDR SDRAM backside L3, 33M Transistors
    CPU Instructions: Altivec Velocity Engine, VMX, VMX128, AND, XOR, OR
    .
  • ($2999): 1 Ghz, 1 Processor, 1 Core, 1 Thread, 1 Core Per-CPU
    21.3W TDP, 64KB L1, 256KB L2, 1MB DDR SDRAM backside L3, 33M Transistors
    CPU Instructions: Altivec Velocity Engine, VMX, VMX128, AND, XOR, OR
    .
  • ROM: 1 MB NewWorld ROM, other instructions loaded into RAM.

Video

Included in box is a DVI to VGA adapter, and an S-Video to Composite adapter.

  • ($2299): ATI Mobility Radeon 9000, 32 MB DDR SDRAM @~3.2 GB/s, Rage 7, 64-Bit Bus
    • 36 Million Transistors, 150 nm process size by TSMC, AGP 4x @ 1066 MB/s,
    • 240 MHz GPU clock, 200 MHz Memory clock (400 Mb/s effective), ~7-15W TDP
    • 2 Pixel Shaders, 4 TMUs, 2 ROPs, DX8.1, OpenGL 1.4, Pixel 1.4, Vertex 1.1
      .
  • ($2999): ATI Mobility Radeon 9000, 64 MB DDR SDRAM (Same GPU but with more VRAM)
    .
  • Built-In 15″ Active Matrix Widescreen TFT (Thin Film Transistor), CCFL-Backlit LCD Display with a native resolution at 1280 x 854.
    • “Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display, millions of colors and a Dual/Mirror display setup with a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536″

Memory

  • ($2299): 256 MB 144-pin PC-133 SDRAM ~1.066 GB/s
    • Configurable up to 1 GB
      .
  • ($2999): 512 MB 144-pin PC-133 SDRAM ~1.066 GB/s
    • Configurable up to 1 GB

Drives

  • ($2299): 40 GB 4200 rpm ATA/66 IDE (ATA-5)
    • 8X Combo Drive (Write: CD-R(W) 8x)
      (Read: DVD 8x, CD-ROM 24x)
      .
  • ($2999): 60 GB 4200 rpm ATA/66 IDE (ATA-5)
    • Build to order: 60 GB 5400 rpm ATA/66 IDE (ATA-5)
    • 1X SuperDrive (Write: DVD-R 1x, CD-R 8x, CD-RW 4x)
      (Read: DVD 6x, CD-ROM 24x)

Expansion/Misc

  • 2x USB 1.1 ports
  • 1x Firewire 400 port
  • Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 style connector)
  • 56k v.92 Modem (RJ-11 style connector)
  • WiFi: IEEE 802.11g AirPort Extreme (Wifi 3, 54 Mb/s)
    • Note: Wifi is standard on 1 GHz model, optional on 867 MHz model
  • Bluetooth 1.1
  • 1x PCMCIA slot: supports both Type I & Type II cards
    • Is Cardbus compliant
  • 1x DVI port
  • Singular Internal Microphone
  • Stereo Speakers
  • S-Video Port
  • 3.5 mm Headphone/Sound Jack
  • 3.5 mm Microphone Jack
  • Kensington Security Lock
  • PRAM battery: Apple part 922-5205
  • Apple barrel jack style power plug

Battery

  • 61 Watt-Hour Lithium-Ion Battery
    • Estimated by Apple to last 5 hours under “normal conditions”

Included In Box

  • 15″ Titanium PowerBook G4
  • “Square” style 65 Watt Power Brick
  • Power Brick extension cord
  • Power Brick 2-Prong wall socket adapter
  • “Getting started with your PowerBook G4″ booklet
  • DVI to VGA adapter
  • S-Video to Composite adapter
  • PowerBook G4 software restore/Hardware Test CDs (A total of 5)
  • Documentation includes quite a few things:
    • A “Getting Started” guide, Apple stickers, Warranty Information, AppleCare, Software License Agreement, and “Welcome to Mac OS X” Documentation.

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