Apple made an unusual decision when it designed the original iBook, the one with the handle. Unlike most Macs before and since, iBooks do not have a PRAM battery. Neither does the 12″ PowerBook G4, which is based on the iBook G4. Instead, the parameter RAM (PRAM for short) is maintained by using the charge […]
Tag Archives: iBook G4
The dual USB iBook form factor was in production for five years – the longest-running laptop design in Apple portable history. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since its only major shortcoming (albeit a significant one) is that it is relatively difficult to open up and work on – even for routine stuff like hard […]
G4 iBooks are a good option with prices starting below $100 including AirPort Extreme – well under half the cost of a refurbished 13″ MacBook. The biggest drawback to the iBook design is the tedious process involved in disassembling and reassembling it to upgrade the hard drive.
In the last few days, I have become the proud owner of a 12″ PowerBook G4, a replacement for my 12″ iBook G4 that died a few weeks ago. Looking at the two machines, they are virtually identical specification-wise.
2007 – Apple announced the system requirements for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard last week: a drive that can read the DVD install disc, at least 512 MB of memory, and an 867 MHz G4 or better – and there’s only on G4 iBook that’s not officially supported. For that one, we have lots of tips […]
Apple updated the iBook line yesterday. The 2005 models have scrolling trackpads, sudden motion sensors, 512 MB of RAM, ATI Radeon 9550 graphics, and Bluetooth 2.0 as a standard feature.
The iBook got a small speed boost (from 1.2 GHz to 1.33 GHz on the 12″ model and from 1.33 GHz to 1.42 GHz on the 14″, twice as much logic board memory (512 MB vs. 256 MB), added Bluetooth 2.0 as a standard feature, and received improved video with ATI Radeon 9550 graphics with […]
In July 2005, the iBook got a small speed boost (11% – from 1.2 GHz to 1.33 GHz), twice as much stock memory (512 MB vs. 256 MB), added Bluetooth 2.0 as a standard feature, and received improved video with ATI Radeon 9550 graphics with the same 32 MB of video RAM as the Late […]
Spec for spec, the 1.2 GHz 12″ iBook G4 matches the 1 GHz 12″ model it replaces with one change: a nominally 20% faster CPU, although in reality the Early 2004 model runs at 1.07 GHz, making the Late 2004 model only 12% faster.
In April 2004, the 12″ iBook jumped from 800 MHz to 1 GHz, while the 14″ iBook was available at 1.07 GHz (nominally 1.0 GHz) and 1.2 GHz speeds.
In addition to a 33% speed boost over the 800 MHz Late 2003 model, the 2004 iBook uses a 1.07 GHz G4 processor with a 512 MB level 2 cache – twice as big as on the previous iBook G4. Another improvement is 256 MB of RAM on the system board (twice as much as […]
With the introduction of the G4 iBooks in October 2003, Apple phased out the last Macs with G3 processors, which had been in use since November 1997. Although the G4 iBooks use a G4 CPU, it’s not the same version used in the PowerBook G4 – this edition has only a 256 KB level 2 […]
