The Philippines' premier Apple partner is nationwide! Now in over 50 locations, find your nearest Power Mac Center branch now. The Power Macintosh series was sold from March 1994 to May 1998. Originally, the Power Mac line consisted of systems targeted toward business and graphics users, but also incorporated consumer-focused and education-only systems. The Power Macintosh G3, Power Macintosh G4, and Power Macintosh G5 also may be of interest.
- Powerpc Mac Mini
- Powerpc Mac Os
- Mac Powerpc
- Virtual Pc For Power Mac G5
- Powerpc Mac For Sale
- Best Linux For Powerpc
Nearly a decade has has passed since the last run of PowerPC Macs hit Apple’s store shelves and provided us with one last hurrah on “thinking different” and being part of the trope of “crazy ones” who simply would not conform to the norm.
The Think Different campaign meant a lot to those who hold Apple near and dear and balked changing things just to fit in. The fact that Macs had run PowerPC processors versus Intel or AMD CPUs for so long kept a true point of difference and made Macs unique and unable to run Windows natively (emulation only).
As fate would have it though, just as unthinkable as it was for Steve Jobs to help bring improved versions of Microsoft Office to the Mac shortly after his return and accept an investment of $150 Million from the corporate giant out of Redmond (which many Mac die-hards despised for years), Macs would abandon PowerPC processors in favor of Intel.
No longer did it seem that Macs were “thinking different”. At the time it really felt as if Apple had conceded to be more or less like Windows machines, allowing Windows to run natively on the Mac due to the change in architecture.
PowerPC Goes Out with a Bang
The last gasp of notable Macs maintaining the PowerPC chips came around this time or were just discontinued at this time ten years ago, but are still among the favorites for Mac collectors (see key feature below each Mac that sets it apart).
1.42 GHz eMac G4 – discontinued 10/12/2005
Key Feature: Had a 64 MB Radeon 9600 (instead of the Radeon 9200 from the 2004 model), making it the only eMac with Core Image capabilities
17″ and 20″ iMac G5 iSight – introduced 10/12/2005
Key Feature: integrated iSight camera and Iinfrared (IR) receiver, making this the only PowerPC Mac with built-in iSight, hence the “iSight” moniker for this iMac
Power Mac G5 Quad – announced 10/19/2005 and shipped November 2005
Key Feature: Fastest PowerPC Mac ever made and the only PowerPC Mac made (aside from the Daystar Genesis clone) to ship with 4 cores.
Additionally, Apple made 2.0 GHz and 2.3 GHz Power Mac G5 Dual models for those who didn’t need quad-core power.
Hi-Res PowerBook G4 – shipped 10/19/2005
Oddly, but perhaps most importantly, the 1.67 GHz Hi-Res PowerBook G4 that shipped out 10/19/2005 – a mere three months before it would be discontinued in favor of the original 1.83 GHz Core Duo MacBook Pro: 15″ model – A1138 or M9969LL/A and its “big brother” counterpart 17″ model – A1139 or M9970LL/A
Key Feature: Only 15″ PowerBook G4 with combined 3.5mm Optical/Analog audio input/output jack (17″ had this feature on the 1.5 GHz in addition to 1.67 GHz).
Note: The 12″ PowerBook G4 1.5 GHz endured much longer than all the rest of the PowerPC line. It hung around until May 2006, stepping aside with the arrival of the polycarbonate white MacBook) due to the fact that no small form factor MacBook or MacBook Pro was released initially alongside the 15″ MacBook Pro in January 2006.
These Macs were the pinnacle of their lines and still can command a premium on eBay and other secondhand markets. I personally had the pleasure of owning a 15″ Hi-Res PowerBook G4 and still have a 12″ 1.5 GHz PowerBook G4 and 1.42 GHz eMac G4 in my collection. All of these Macs are still somewhat viable today as web browsers with TenFourFox, video editing stations with iMovie HD ’06, and could even be decent candidates for MorphOS (a third party operating system that is still currently developed for PowerPC Macs).
The Power Mac G5 Quad was more powerful than most “consumer” Intel Macs (Mac Minis, iMac, MacBooks) from 2006 through 2008, with an average Geekbench 2 score in the 3300 to 3600 range. During this time, only the Mac Pro was technically more powerful on paper, but even then (at least early on), many Mac OS X applications were optimized for PowerPC (and not Intel), giving the G5 Quad a significant advantage.
Tiger or Leopard?
Powerpc Mac Mini
Every single one of these aforementioned Macs that shipped in 2005 came with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger installation media and could utilize the 10.4.6 retail installation DVD. Tiger is generally considered the very best version of Mac OS X produced for the PowerPC. It was truly optimized for the PowerPC G4 and G5 in all aspects (even runs great on G3s) and is significantly smoother than Mac OS X 10.3 Panther on systems that support Tiger when provided with ample RAM.
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard arrived in 2007, and by that time Intel Macs had displaced all PowerPCs in retail and online outlets (save for clearance and refurbished), but a time of “crossover” existed and allowed both developers and Apple themselves a chance to ween us off of PowerPC gear and PowerPC applications. Apple shipped Leopard on a dual-layer DVD (a first); it was the first and last true “Universal Binary” operating system for PowerPC and Intel Macs.
Note: Although Tiger was also developed for Intel, only Leopard had installation assets for both Intel and PowerPC Macs on the same disc.
At this point, which OS should you run on these late model PowerPC Macs? The short and simple answer: both!
Why?
I could get into a multitude of reasons, but I will keep it down to the two biggest key features that don’t exist on both versions: Classic Mode exists in Tiger only, and Time Machine exists in Leopard only. You can partition your Mac to run both versions of Mac OS X or have multiple boot disks and then boot into Tiger when you want to take advantage of old OS 9 applications that run quite well in Classic Mode and then switch over to Leopard when you want to run a full Time Machine backup (including Tiger partitions/disks).
The key is RAM though – all of these Macs are more than capable of running Leopard and support at least 2 GB of RAM. Make sure you have a minimum of 1 GB of RAM to comfortably run Leopard, but anything more than that is better to allow you more breathing room for multitasking.
Collectible Today
These Macs are becoming sought after for the very reason that they were the pinnacle of their lines and still have limited viability due to the ability to run Leopard rather smoothly.
- Hi-Res PowerBooks in excellent condition still command $200 to $500 eBay prices.
- G5 Quads sell for as much (if not more) than a Mac Pro 1,1, even though a Mac Pro 1,1 can be heavily upgraded with 8 CPU cores and modern GPUs (blowing away a Quad) and can be tricked to run a modern build of OS X.
- Even the eMac G4 1.42 GHz iMac G5 iSight can grab $100.
- The 12″ PowerBook G4 is probably the biggest sleeper of them all. It’s still my favorite sub-compact Mac in the past decade and has more connectivity options than all subsequent subcompacts to this day.
If you can find one of these machines with original box, manuals, and accessories in excellent to mint condition, hang on tight. They will continue to appreciate and be more and more sought after by collectors. They are true low-end Macs!
Keywords: #lastpowerpcmacs #powermacg5quad #hirespowerbookg4
Short link: http://goo.gl/jquV0P
searchword: lastpowerpcmacs
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch Retina 5K display, 3.6GHz 10-Core i9, 128GB 2666MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 8TB Solid State Drive, AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT with 16GB memory | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
74W | 295W | 252 BTU/h | 1007 BTU/h |
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch Retina 5K display, 3.6GHz Intel 8-Core i9, 64GB 2666MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 with 8GB memory | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
71W | 262W | 242 BTU/h | 895 BTU/h |
Powerpc Mac Os
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch Retina 4K display, 3.2GHz Intel 6-Core i7, 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 1TB Solid State Drive, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4GB memory | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
47W | 166W | 161 BTU/h | 568 BTU/h |
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch Retina 5K display, 4.2GHz Intel Quad-Core i7, 64GB 2400MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon Pro 580 with 8192MB memory | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
71W | 217W | 242 BTU/h | 741 BTU/h |
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch Retina 4K display, 3.6GHz Intel Quad-Core i7, 32GB 2400MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 512GB Solid State Drive, AMD Radeon Pro 560 with 4096MB memory | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
49W | 161W | 168 BTU/h | 550 BTU/h |
iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 2.3GHz Intel Dual-Core i5, 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 256GB Solid State Drive | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
33W | 74W | 113 BTU/h | 253 BTU/h |
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch Retina 5K display, 4.0GHz Intel quad-core Core i7, 32GB 1866MHz DDR3L SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon R9 M390 with 2GB memory | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
63W | 240W | 215 BTU/h | 819 BTU/h |
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch Retina 4K display, 3.3GHz Intel quad-core Core i7, 16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM, 2TB Fusion Drive | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
40W | 119W | 136 BTU/h | 406 BTU/h |
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 1.6GHz Intel dual-core Core i5, 16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Fusion Drive | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
33W | 58W | 113 BTU/h | 198 BTU/h |
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.3GHz Intel Core i5, 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon R9 M290 | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
70W | 197W | 239 BTU/h | 673 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2014) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 4GHz Intel Core i7, 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon R9 M295X with 4096MB memory | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
70W | 288W | 239 BTU/h | 983 BTU/h |
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 1.4GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 500GB HDD, integrated graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
33W | 68W | 113 BTU/h | 232 BTU/h |
iMac (Late 2013) | |||
---|---|---|---|
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) | |||
21.5-inch display, 3.1GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Fusion Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
37W | 136W | 126 BTU/h | 463 BTU/h |
Mac Powerpc
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 2.9GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
37W | 94W | 127 BTU/h | 322 BTU/h |
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive, Intel Iris Pro Graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
38W | 91W | 129 BTU/h | 311 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.4GHz Intel Core i7, 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
78W | 229W | 266 BTU/h | 782 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.4GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
80W | 214W | 274 BTU/h | 729 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.2GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
78W | 180W | 268 BTU/h | 615 BTU/h |
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/0/7/9/107988047/972707882.jpg)
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2011) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 3.1GHz Intel Core i3, 2GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 250GB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
80W | 101W | 273 BTU/h | 345 BTU/h |
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 2.5GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 500GB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
81W | 106W | 276 BTU/h | 362 BTU/h |
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
85W | 114W | 290 BTU/h | 389 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
135W | 170W | 461 BTU/h | 580 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.1GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
139W | 195W | 474 BTU/h | 665 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.4GHz Intel Core i7, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
142W | 200W | 485 BTU/h | 682 BTU/h |
iMac (Mid 2010) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 3.6GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 4670 graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
94W | 241W | 321 BTU/h | 822 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.2GHz Intel Core i3, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 5670 graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
* | 365W | * | 1,245 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.6GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 5670 graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
145W | 365W | 495 BTU/h | 1,245 BTU/h |
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 500GB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
104W | 241W | 355 BTU/h | 822 BTU/h |
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
21.5-inch display, 3.2GHz Intel Core i3, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
104W | 241W | 355 BTU/h | 822 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 4670 graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
* | 365W | * | 1,245 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 4670 graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
* | 365W | * | 1,245 BTU/h |
iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
27-inch display, 2.66GHz Quad-core Intel i5, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 4850 graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
145W | 365W | * | 1,245 BTU/h |
iMac (20-inch, Early 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
20-inch display, 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x1GB, 320GB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
60.7W | 108.9W | 206.4 BTU/h | 371.6 BTU/h |
iMac (24-inch, Early 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
24-inch display, 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 640GB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
104.4W | 151.5W | 355 BTU/h | 515.2 BTU/h |
Virtual Pc For Power Mac G5
iMac (24-inch, Early 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
24-inch display, 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 640GB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
116.4W | 192.2W | 395.8 BTU/h | 653.5 BTU/h |
iMac (24-inch, Early 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
24-inch display, 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
113.9W | 208.9W | 387.3 BTU/h | 710.3 BTU/h |
iMac (24-inch, Early 2009) | |||
---|---|---|---|
24-inch display, 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics | |||
Power Consumption | Thermal Output | ||
Idle | CPU Max | Idle | CPU Max |
125.5W | 215.7W | 426.7 BTU/h | 733.4 BTU/h |
* Information not available.
Powerpc Mac For Sale
Notes
Best Linux For Powerpc
- Power consumption data (watts) is measured from the wall power source and includes all power supply and system losses. Additional correction isn't needed.
- CPU Max is defined as running a compute-intensive test application that maximizes processor usage and therefore power consumption.
- These numbers reflect a 23°C (73.4°F) ambient running environment. Increased ambient temperatures require faster fan speeds which increases power consumption. At 35°C (95°F), 50W should be added to reflect increased power consumption.