Power Mac G4

The "Graphite" Power Mac G4
Developer	Apple Computer
Product family	Power Macintosh
Type	Mini Tower
Released	August 31, 1999
Discontinued	June 9, 2004
CPU	single or dualPowerPC G4, 350 MHz – 1.42 GHz (Up to 2 GHz processors through 3rd-party upgrades.)
Predecessor	Power Macintosh G3
Successor	Power Mac G5
Related	PowerBook

ThePower Mac G4 is a series ofpersonal computers designed, manufactured, and sold byApple Computer from 1999 to 2004 as part of thePower Macintosh line. Built around thePowerPC G4 series ofmicroprocessors, the Power Mac G4 was marketed byApple as the first "personal supercomputers",^[1] reaching speeds of 4 to 20gigaFLOPS. This was the first existing Macintosh product to be officially shortened as "Mac" (with the exception of theiMac), and is the last Mac able to boot intoclassic Mac OS with the introduction ofMac OS X.

The enclosure style introduced with thePower Macintosh G3 (Blue and White) was retained through the entire five-year production run of the Power Mac G4, albeit with significant changes to match Apple's evolving industrial design and to accommodate increasing cooling needs. The G4 and its enclosure were retired with the introduction of thePower Mac G5.

The Power Mac G4 is a line ofpersonal computers. Thetower form factor case is adapted from that of thePower Macintosh G3 (Blue and White), and features a latch on the side which can be used to open the side of the machine for easy access to the internals.^[2]

The machine is designed aroundPowerPC G4 processors, which feature faster processor speeds, larger caches and cache speed boosts from their G3 predecessors. The Power Mac G4 used chips that included a subprocessor called theVelocity Engine that performs functions such as video decoding that would otherwise be formed by slower, separate chips. Software must be written to specifically address the Velocity Engine.^[3]

External connectivity is provided byUniversal Serial Bus andFireWire ports. Early models have options for addingAirPort wireless networking via an expansion card; this later came standard.

After releasing theiMac, Apple adopted the translucent plastic computer's visual style to its line of professional desktop computers with the "Blue and White" PowerPC G3-poweredPower Macintosh G3. These machines featured a colorful design with curved handles for portability and a motherboard mounted on the side of computer for ease of access. They also began a migration away from legacy connectivity, such asSCSI, floppy disk drives, andApple Desktop Bus toUniversal Serial Bus andFireWire.^[4] While it was not as popular as the iMac, the Power Macintosh G3 sold well and kept Apple's foothold in the more lucrative business market.^[5]

For the Power Mac G4, Apple kept the same design as the G3 it replaced, but came in a series of more sober case styling that presaged Apple's use of aluminum that would become Apple's trademark.^[5] The front panel switched from a blueberry color to gray (initially in a shade Apple called "graphite"), the formerly frosted white side panels became opaque silver, and the white handles became clear.^[2]

The original Power Mac G4 was introduced at the Seybold conference inSan Francisco on August 31, 1999.^[6] While marketed as a single, unified product line, there were two variants of the machine. The first, cheaper configuration, the Power Macintosh G4 (PCI Graphics), served as an intermediate step between the Power Mac G3s and the G4 processors, used a G4 processor on a modified version of the Blue-and-white G3's logic board, making them very similar to their predecessors. The higher-end configuration, Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics), featured a new logic board and faster memory bandwidth, and swapped the PCI graphics-card slot for a fasterAdvanced Graphics Port slot.^[7]

Apple originally planned to ship the500 MHz configuration in October 1999, but they were forced to postpone this because of poor yield of the CPUs. In response, Apple reduced the clock speed of the processor in each configuration by50 MHz (making the options350 MHz,400 MHz and450 MHz), which caused some controversy because they did not lower the original prices accordingly.^[8]

The early400 MHz (later350 MHz)PCI-based version used amotherboard identical to the one used inPower Macintosh G3 (Blue and White) computers including the use of Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) processors sockets^[9] (minus theADB port), in a "graphite" colored case and with the newMotorolaPowerPC 7400 (G4) CPU. The higher-speed models, code name "Sawtooth", used a greatly modified motherboard design withAGP 2x graphics (replacing the66 MHz PCI slot).

The PCI variant was discontinued at the end of 1999.^[10][11]

The machines featuredDVD-ROM drives as standard. The400 and450 MHz versions had100MBZip drives as standard equipment, and as an option on the350 MHz Sawtooth. This series had a100 MHzsystem bus and fourPC100SDRAM slots for up to2GB ofRAM (1.5 GB underMac OS 9). The AGP Power Macs were the first to include anAirPort slot andDVI video port. The computers could house a total of three hard drives, two 128 GB ATA hard drives and up to a single 20 GB SCSI hard drive, with the installation of a SCSI card.

The500 MHz version was reintroduced on February 16, 2000, accompanied by400 and450 MHz models.DVD-RAM and Zip drives featured on these later450 MHz and500 MHz versions and were an option on the 400 MHz.

ThePower Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) model was introduced atMacworld ExpoNew York on July 19, 2000; the new revision included dual-processor450 MHz and500 MHz versions, and a low-end single CPU400 MHz model. It was also the firstpersonal computer to includegigabit Ethernet as standard. Most people saw this revision as a stopgap release, because higher clocked G4s were not available; the G4's Motorola XPC107 "Grackle" PCI/Memory controller prevented the G4 from hitting speeds higher than500 MHz.^{[citation needed]} The dual500 MHz models featuredDVD-RAM optical drives. Zip drives were optional on all models. These models also introduced Apple's proprietaryApple Display Connector video port.

A new line with a revamped motherboard but retaining the familiar "Graphite" case debuted on January 9, 2001, known officially as thePower Mac G4 (Digital Audio).Motorola had added a seventh pipeline stage in the newPowerPC G4 design to achieve faster clock frequencies. New features included a fourth PCI slot, a 133 MHz system bus, an improved 4X AGP slot, and a new "digital audio" TripathClass T amplifier sound system. The models were offered in466 MHz,533 MHz, dual533 MHz,667 MHz and733 MHz configurations, the latter two using a newer PowerPC 7450 processor. The number of RAM slots was reduced to three, accommodating up to 1.5Gigabytes ofPC133SDRAM.

The733 MHz model was the firstMacintosh to include a built-inDVD-R or Apple-brandedSuperDrive, the rest of the line became the first Macs to ship withCD-RW drives.

AtMacworld ExpoNew York on July 18, 2001, a new line debuted featuring a cosmetically redesigned case known asQuickSilver, and various upgrades to the specifications. It was available in733,867 and dual800 MHz configurations. The733 MHz model was notable for not having a level three cache. The SuperDrive was offered on the mid-range867 MHz model, and UltraATA/100 hard drives were offered on all models. The internal speaker received an upgrade, using aHarman/Kardon speaker.

The QuickSilver line received criticism inMacWorld's review for removing the "eject" button and the manual eject pinhole, as well as the pass-through monitor power plug, and for the base specification of128 MB RAM as being insufficient for runningMac OS X.^[12]

The Quicksilver case went through shifts in hardware features and design up until production was due to start, resulting in a mismatch between the color of the plastic on the machine's front doors and the rest of the case. Designer Doug Satzger recalled Steve Jobs was adamant that the issue be fixed before it shipped, despite pushback.^[5] Ive wanted special polished stainless steel screws in the handle of the case, whichJon Rubinstein vetoed as too expensive and delaying. Ive went around Rubenstein and got Jobs to approve the screws, though it created a widening rift between Ive and Rubinstein as Ive refused to compromise on his design vision.^[13]

Updated QuickSilver machines, officially namedPower Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002), were introduced on January 28, 2002, with800 MHz,933 MHz and dual1 GHz configurations. This was the first Mac to reach1 GHz. Again, the low-end800 MHz model did not include any level three cache. The graphics in Updated QuickSilver machines were provided by an NvidiaGeForce4 Ti/MX orATI Radeon 7500 graphics card. Some of these models haveATA controllers with 48-bitLBA to accommodate hard drives larger than 128 GB.

Another generation of Apple Power Mac G4s, officially named"Mirrored Drive Doors" (MDD), was introduced on August 13, 2002, featuring both a newXserve-derived DDR motherboard architecture and a new case design. All models were available in dual processor configurations running at867 MHz,1 GHz or1.25 GHz. As with the Xserves, thePowerPC 7455 CPU used does not have a DDRfrontside bus, meaning the CPU of the 133 MHzfrontside bus models could use at most only 50% of the new system's theoretical memory bandwidth, providing no improvement over previous models. The rest was available to thegraphics card andI/O systems.

The early dual processor models generated more heat, and required more fans and larger heat sinks; the power supply fans were criticized for the increased noise, with third parties producing noise-reduction cases to dampen the sound in audio-sensitive environments. Apple released a firmware update to reduce fan noise and offered a fan and power supply exchange program.^[14]

The last real update to the Power Mac G4 line came on January 28, 2003, offering dual 1.42 GHz PowerPC 7455 processors, with features not seen in previous DDR models: a built-in FireWire 800 connector, optional integratedBluetooth, and optional integratedAirPort Extreme. These were also the first Power Macs that could not boot intoMac OS 9.^[15]

With the launch of thePower Mac G5 on June 23, 2003, Apple re-introduced the August 2002 Power Mac G4 because of perceived demand for Mac OS 9 machines. Between that, its low price-tag, and the delayed availability of Power Mac G5s, it proved a strong seller, albeit for a relatively short time. Production stopped on June 9, 2004, and the remaining inventory was liquidated, its discontinuation ending the 20-year legacy of Classic Mac OS support.

Supported macOS releases
OS release	Graphite			Digital Audio/QuickSilver			Mirrored Drive Doors
	Late 1999 (PCI)	Late 1999 (AGP)	Mid 2000	Early 2001	Mid 2001	Early 2002	Mid 2002	Early 2003	Mid 2003
Mac OS 8	8.6	8.6	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
Mac OS 9			9.0.4	9.1	9.2	9.2.2	9.2.2	Emulation only	9.2.2
10.0 Cheetah					10.0.4	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
10.1 Puma						10.1.2	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
10.2 Jaguar
10.3 Panther
10.4 Tiger
10.5 Leopard[Note 1]	patch	patch	patch	patch	patch	With 1 GB RAM	With 1 GB RAM

Timeline of Power Macintosh, Pro, and Studio models v t e
See also:List of Mac models

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPower Mac G4.

• Power Mac G4 Cube

• Bates, Allyson (March 1999). "iMac Envy".Macworld. pp. 67–72.ISSN 0741-8647.
• Gore, Andrew (November 1999). "Fantastic Four".Macworld. The Vision Thing. pp. 88–91.ISSN 0741-8647.
• Kahney, Leander (2013).Jony Ive: the genius behind Apple's greatest products. Penguin Group.ISBN 978-1-5918-4617-8.

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