Adobe had yet to release Adobe CS3 with full Intel code, making these Hi-Res PowerBooks a more sensible purchase for those who used the professional video and photo editing suite on a daily basis and on the go. One last interesting fact that comes to mind about the Hi-Res PowerBook G4: With the Hi-Res PowerBook G4 on the market, although discounted and being discontinued at the time of the introduction of the MacBook Pro, graphic design professionals were presented with a difficult choice. DDR2 is faster and cheaper than standard DDR RAM. The Hi-Res PowerBooks were the first (and only) PowerBooks to make use of DDR2 RAM. They were the only PowerBooks with screen resolutions of 1440 x 960 on a 15″ display (previously 1280 x 854) and 1680 x 1050 on a 17″ display (formerly 1440 x 900) and greatly exceeded the expectations of graphic design professionals in overall color gamut, saturation, and raw pixel depth. They were among Apple’s first (and the only PowerPC) portables to utilize a combined analog/optical audio output, which is very useful if you want to connect your Hi-Res PowerBook to a home theater system as outlined in one of my previous articles. Although Intel Macs initially shipped with Tiger, Classic Mode was not an option due to the change to Intel processors – although Rosetta was there to run Mac OS X applications written for PowerPC. These were the last portable Macs to support running OS 9 applications through Classic Mode in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. They were the last to feature a built-in 56k data/fax modem, as this became an external USB accessory with the MacBook Pro models that replaced the PowerBooks. They were the last to incorporate CardBus, as ExpressCard34 was the method of expansion going forward with the MacBook Pro. Single Layer: This gave you the ability to burn dual-layer DVDs out of the box, which is very useful for those working with high-resolution photos and video.īesides a couple of obvious things being the fact that these were the last Macs to carry the PowerBook name and the very last PowerPC portable Macs, these PowerBooks had some lasts and firsts that are lesser known to most: Lasts A better battery: Apple increased battery life by a full hour from a stated 4.5 hour capacity to 5.5 hours.The Radeon 9700 128 MB GPU, which was previously a build-to-order option with some 15″ and 17″ 1.5 GHz PowerBooks and Early 2005 1.67 GHz PowerBooks came standard on the October 2005 1.67 GHz Hi-Res PowerBooks.Forget about today’s value and the long term value for a minute and consider what was offered in October 2005 compared to what the “Low-res” 1.67 GHz PowerBooks provided just 9 months earlier…īesides the major obvious difference of a significantly higher resolution screen, consider this list of differences as well and the fact that Apple didn’t charge a premium price for the Hi-Res PowerBooks (they were still just $1,999 – a real bargain for what you got) – truly highlighting the value these final PowerBooks provided: The value and capabilities of the Hi-Res PowerBooks seem to be well known to those who covet them. Even today, at seven years old, they command a nice premium on eBay. $30 to own this incredible machine for nearly two years? You can’t beat that. It was resold on eBay at the end of December 2010, and the final auction price with shipping was $470. Mine was a corporate off-lease unit that was in mint condition, purchased from a technology reseller on eBay for $500 shipped in April 2009. I had the privilege of owning a 15″ Hi-Res PowerBook for nearly two years, and the cost of ownership for these PowerBooks is second to none. Apple went all out with these final PowerBooks, and the only missing feature was the IR (infrared) port that was used with the Apple Remote on the first MacBook Pro units primarily for Front Row (third party USB solutions exist), but nonetheless they were amazing pieces of hardware. The biggest thing I remember about them is how they flew in a bit under the radar, since the impending Intel machines were right around the corner and had a lot of hype behind them. These 15″ and 17″ notebooks were the last Macs that would don the PowerBook moniker. A little over seven years ago, on October 19, 2005, Apple introduced the Hi-Res PowerBook G4.
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