Announced in January 2001, the PowerBook G4 was a dramatic change to Apple's PowerBook line. Based on a new low-power G4 chip, the PPC 7410, the PowerBook G4 sported a stylish new Titanium enclosure, which was only 1" thick, .7" thinner than its predecessor, the PowerBook G3 (FireWire). The reduction in size came at a price, however: the PB G4 had a fixed, 6x slot-load DVD-ROM drive instead of a removable drive bay, and a single battery bay (previous models allowed the use of the drive bay as a second battery bay).
The most innovative feature of the PowerBook G4, was its wide-aspect 15.2" screen, which had a native resolution of 1152x768. This made the PB G4 wider than its predecessor, but it was over an inch less deep.
The PowerBook G4 shipped in two configurations. The 400 Mhz model, with 128 MB of RAM and a 10 GB hard drive was $2,599 (a $100 increase in the low-end model price), and the 500 Mhz model, with 256 MB of RAM and a 20 GB hard drive was $3,499. In mid-2001, These prices were reduced to $2,199 and $2,999, respectively.
Announced in October 2001, the PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) was a speed-bump to the original PowerBook G4. In addition to faster processor speeds, the Powerbook G4 (GE) included a better graphics card, an on-chip L2 cache, and a faster system bus on the high-end model.
The PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) shipped in two configurations. The 550 Mhz model, with 128 MB of RAM and a 20 GB hard drive was $2,199, and the 667 Mhz model, with 256 MB of RAM, a 133 Mhz system-bus, a 30 GB hard drive and a pre-installed Airport card was $2,999. There was also a 512 MB/48 GB/Airport BTO configuration for $3599.
Just a few weeks later, the G4 (Gigabit) was further enhanced, with the inclusion of a CD-R/DVD-ROM "Combo Drive," and twice the ammount of RAM across the entire line.
Announced in April 2002, The PowerBook G4 (DVI) was essentially a speed-bump of the PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet). There were, however, a few architectural changes. The Audio input, which had been omitted beginning with the original PowerBook G4, returned, along with a new DVI video out, which could be converted to either VGA or ADC using special adapters. Also included were larger hard drives, faster graphics, a higher-resolution screen, and CD-RW/DVD-ROM drives accorss the line.
The PowerBook G4 (DVI) came in two configurations: a 667 Mhz model, with 256 MB of RAM and a 30 GB hard drive for $2499, and an 800 Mhz model, with 512 MB of RAM, a 40 GB hard drive and a built-in AirPort card for $3199. Both models were discontinued in November 2002.
Announced in November 2002, The aptly-named PowerBook G4 (1 Ghz/867 Mhz) was essentially a speedbump of the PowerBook G4 (DVI). In addition to faster processors, the PowerBook G4 (1/867) gained a faster graphics system, and a CD-RW/DVD-RW "SuperDrive" on the highend model (The first such drive ever available in a slot-load configuration). There were two configurations: the 867 Mhz model, with 256 MB of RAM, a 40 GB hard drive, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, and 32 MB of VRAM, was $2299. The 1.0 Ghz model, with 512 MB of RAM, a 60 GB hard drive, a SuperDrive, 64 MB of VRAM and a built-in AirPort card, was $2999, making it one of the lowest priced highend PowerBooks ever.
Announced in January 2003, The PowerBook G4 (12.1") brough the subnotebook form factor of the 12" iBook to the G4 line. Housed inside an Aluminum case even smaller than the iBook, The 12.1" G4 had nearly all the features of the 867 Mhz PowerBook G4 Titanium, and a few more to boot.
The 12.1" G4 was based on a new motherboard design, which included Double Data Rate RAM, internal BlueTooth, and AirPort Extreme (54 Mbps 802.11g) support. The 12" PowerBook G4 included a 32 MB NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go graphics card, and borrowed the iBook's mini-VGA port. It came in a single configuration, with 256 MB of RAM and a 40 GB hard drive, for $1799. A SuperDrive configuration, with a 60 GB drive was also available for $1999.
Announced in January 2003, The PowerBook G4 (17") boasted the largest screen of any portable then available. With a staggering 1440x900 17" screen, the PowerBook G4 was the most full-featured laptop Apple had ever sold. Built around a 1-inch thick aluminum case, the 17" G4 included several Apple firsts: It was the first Mac to include FireWire 800, Apple's new high-speed flavor of IEEE 1394, and one of the first Macs to include internal BlueTooth and AirPort Extreme, Apple's implementation of the 54 Mbps 802.11g wireless standard.
The 17" G4 also featured PC2700 Double Data Rate RAM (a PowerBook first), and a 64 MB NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go graphics card. It shipped in a single configuration, with 512 MB of RAM, and a 60 GB hard driive, for $3299.
Announced in September 2003, the PowerBook G4 (12" DVI) was essentially a speed bump of the previous model. In addition the mini-VGA port was upgraded to mini-DVI, and the two USB ports were upgraded to USB 2.0. The PowerBook G4 (12" DVI) shipped in both Combo Drive and SuperDrive configurations, each with 256 MB of RAM and a 40 GB hard drive. They were priced at $1799 and $1999 respectively. Both models were discontinued in April 2004.
Announced in September 2003, the PowerBook G4 (15" FireWire 800) was arguably the most widely anticipated PowerBook to date. Since the announcement of the "Aluminum" 12 and 17-inch PowerBooks in January, there had been speculation about when a similar 15-inch PowerBook would make an appearance.
The PowerBook G4 (15" FireWire 800) brought the 15-inch model up to feature parity with it's 17-inch "big brother". In addition to the stunning new Aluminum case, this revision included USB 2.0, AirPort Extreme, internal bluetooth support, a FireWire 800 port, a faster bus and memory system, and a faster optical drive.
The PowerBook G4 (15" FireWire 800) shipped in two configurations. The 1.0 Ghz model, with 256 MB of RAM, a 60 GB hard drive, and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive was $1999. The 1.25 Ghz model, with 512 MB of RAM, an 80 GB hard drive, an AirPort Extreme card, an illuminated keyboard and a CD-RW/DVD-RW SuperDrive, was $2599. Both models were discontinued in April 2004.
Announced in September 2003, the PowerBook G4 (17" 1.33 Ghz) was a speed bump of the previous model. It shipped in a single 1.33 Ghz configuration, with 512 MB of RAM and an 80 GB hard drive, for $2999. It was discontinued in April 2004.
Released in April 2004, The PowerBook G4 Family brought the entire PowerBook Line under a single product designation, with the same release cycle. Largely speed-bumps of existing product lines, the PowerBook G4 Family also added faster graphics cards and faster optical drives, and made AirPort Extreme cards standard accross the entire line
The PowerBook G4 shipped in five configurations. There were two 12.1" models, both with 1.33 Ghz processors, 256 MB of RAM, and a 60 GB hard drive: the Combo Drive model sold for $1,599, and the SuperDrive model sold for $1,799. There were also two 15.1" models: the Combo Drive model, with a 1.33 GHz processor, 256 MB of RAM, and a 60 GB hard drive was $1,999; the SuperDrive model, with a 1.5 Ghz processor, 512 MB of RAM, an 80 GB hard drive, and an illuminated keyboard, was $2,499. There was a single, high-end 17" model, with the same specs as the SuperDrive 15" model, for $2,799.
And the last revision, which the original poster owns. Info courtesy of apple-history.com.
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