Overview of 17-inch PowerBook G4

This chapter outlines the features of the 17-inch PowerBook G4, with emphasis on the changes from the previous model.

New Features

Below is a list of the features that are new to the 17-inch PowerBook G4. For a quick summary of the feature comparison of new and previous models, see Table 1-1. Each feature is described in a later chapter, as indicated.

Table 1-1  Feature comparison

Feature

Previous model

Current model

Processor

PowerPC G4

Enclosure

aluminum alloy

Processor clock speed

1.5 GHz

1.67 GHz

Graphics IC

ATI Mobility Radeon 9700

System bus speed

167 MHz

Device ports

2 USB 2.0; 1 FireWire 400 ; 1 FireWire 800

Graphics memory

64 MB of DDR; build-to-order 128 MB

128 MB of DDR and dual link DVI

Hard disk drive

4200 rpm 80 GB; build-to-order 5400 rpm 80 GB

5400 rpm 100 GB

Keyboard

backlit keyboard and ambient light sensors

Backlit keyboard and ambient light sensors. Backlit keyboard is 10 times brighter.

RAM

512 MB DDR333 SDRAM DIMMs with 2 GB expansion capacity

Wireless

standard AirPort Extreme and fully-integrated Bluetooth

standard AirPort Extreme and fully-integrated Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

Battery

58 watt-hours battery

Power adapter

65 W power adapter

Sudden Motion Sensor

not available

new feature

Removable media

4x SuperDrive

8x SuperDrive

Audio

audio line-in and headphone output

combined audio line-in and optical digital audio input port and combined headphone output and optical digital audio output port

Scrolling trackpad

not available

new feature

All Features

Here is a list of all features of the 17-inch PowerBook G4. Each feature is described in a later chapter, as indicated.

Appearance

Figure 1-1 is a front view of the 17-inch PowerBook G4. Figure 1-2 provides side views showing the I/O ports.

Figure 1-1  Front view of the computer
Front view of the computer
Figure 1-2  Side views showing I/O ports
Side views showing I/O ports

Peripheral Devices

Included with the computer are a 65 W Apple Portable Power Adapter, an S-video-to-composite cable, a DVI-to-VGA cable, and a modem cable. In addition to these devices, the following peripheral devices are available separately:

System Software

The 17-inch PowerBook G4 comes with Mac OS X version 10.3.7. For the latest information, see the references listed in Mac OS X.

Here are a few items of interest about the system software on the 17-inch PowerBook G4.

Open Firmware

System software on all current Macintosh models uses a design based on Open Firmware. With this approach, the ROM on the main logic board contains only the Open Firmware code needed to initialize the hardware and load an operating system. The rest of the system code is loaded into RAM from disk or from the network. For more information, see the references listed in Open Firmware.

Computer Identification

Rather than reading the box flag or the model string and then making assumptions about the computer’s features, applications that need to find out the features of the computer should use IORegistry calls to test for the features they require. IORegistry calls are part of the I/O Kit API. For more information, see the references listed at I/O Kit.

Asset management software that reports the kind of computer it is running on can obtain the value of the model property from the IOService plane of the IORegistry. For the 17-inch PowerBook G4, the value of the model property is PowerBook5,7.

Power Management

Apple’s power management techniques for the 17-inch PowerBook G4 are described in the following paragraphs.

Power Saving States

The power management protocols on the 17-inch PowerBook G4 support two power-saving states: idle and sleep.

  • Idle: The system is idling with the main processor in a low-power state. All clocks are running; the system can return to running code within a few nanoseconds. Cache coherency is maintained in this state. The CPU automatically transitions between run and idle independent of the operating frequency. The operating frequency is based on the processor power management setting. For additional information, see Processor Power Management.

  • Sleep: Most internal components are powered off and the state is saved; the DRAM state preserved for quick recovery. The processor is powered off with its state preserved in DRAM. All clocks in the system are suspended except for the 32.768 kHz timebase crystal on the PMU99 IC.

The computer automatically enters idle state after a few hundred milliseconds of inactivity. If the computer is attached to a network, it is able to respond to service requests and other events directed to the computer while it is in idle state.

While it is connected to an AC power supply, the computer can also respond to network activity when it is in sleep state. The user can enable this feature by selecting Wake-on-LAN in the Energy Saver preference pane.

When operating on the battery in sleep state, the computer consumes less than 1 watt of power, meeting the Energy Star power-saving standard. When operating on the power adapter in sleep state, the combined computer and adapter consume 3 to 4 watts of power.

Processor Power Management

To lower power consumption and heat generation, the 17-inch PowerBook G4 incorporates an automatic power management technique called dynamic frequency switching (DFS). DFS is designed to run at high processor speed and voltage when the demand on the processor is high, and to run at low processor speed and voltage when the demand on the processor is low. When DFS is enabled, the processor dynamically adjusts its speed based on the current needs of the system. The processor speed will switch between 1670 MHz and 835 MHz. The memory bus speed is not shifted, as it was in previous models.

Switching between different processor speeds and voltages is achieved by a transition that should operate seamlessly to the user. For applications that are particulary demanding on the processor, it is recommended that the processor performance be set to highest.

The 17-inch PowerBook G4 allows the user to control DFS mode. The options for specifying either high, reduced, or automatic processor speeds are located at System Preferences>Energy Saver>Show Details>Options>Processor Performance; then select Highest, Automatic, or Reduced. DFS is enabled with the automatic setting.

If the 17-inch PowerBook G4 detects a system temperature that is high, due to high ambient temperatures or other factors, it will automatically force the system to reduced speed mode regardless of the selected setting.

The 17-inch PowerBook G4 meets all applicable safety standards, including UL 60950 and IEC 60950.

Graphics Power Management

For additional power savings and reduced heat generation, the 17-inch PowerBook G4 incorporates a new graphics power management technique. When enabled, the graphics processor runs at a reduced voltage and slower clock rate, similar to DFS on the central processor. However, unlike DFS, the setting is static and does not automatically change as the load on the graphics processor changes.

Graphics power management is enabled by selecting reduced mode located at System Preferences>Energy Saver>Show Details> Options>Processor Perfomance.



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