macupgrades.co.uk
10 Year Anniversary
01223 833 412 Delivery Options: Postal Delivery (small items) - £2.37 + vat (£2.84). City Link Delivery (2 working days) - £5 + vat (£6). Collect from Store - Free. 3:30pm Order Cut-Off.
Skip Navigation
Compatibility Help  |  How To Order  |  Fitting Service  |  Same Day Fitting  |  Positive Feedback  |  Sell My Mac  |  Cambridge Mac Repair My Account  |  Cart Contents  |  Checkout   

PowerBook G4 Aluminium 15" Upgrades

G4 15" Front
G4 15" Front
G4 15" Top View
G4 15" Top View
G4 15" Side View
G4 15" Side View
G4 15" Port View
G4 15" Port View

History

This page covers the Aluminium 15" PowerBook G4. That is all PowerBook G4s with a 15.2" display, a silver keyboard and FireWire 800 ports.

Apple improved on its 15" PowerBook line in September 2003, with faster processor speeds, and a new logic board including Airport extreme, FireWire 800, USB 2.0 and double data rate (DDR) memory.

They shipped in either 1.0, 1.25, 1.33. 1.5 or 1.67GHz configurations, with a Combo or SuperDrive as standard.

Apple changed the case to a more hard wearing aluminum finish, rather than the titanium of previous machines, and replaced the black keyboard with a matching aluminum one.

The screen size was stretched to 15.2 inches, giving an 1280 x 854 screen resolution (1440x960 on the last model). The Aluminum range all shipped with Mac OS 10.3/10.4, and will not run OS 9 (except as Classic emulation).

The first 15" PowerBook G4 Aluminium was released in September 2005 with 1GHz and 1.25GHz processor speeds, replacing the PowerBook G4 Titanium in the 15" form factor. Apple specs here.

The refresh in April 2004 saw the 15" PowerBook move to 1.33GHz and 1.5GHz processor options and an upgraded graphics card. Apple specs here.

In January 2005 the 15" moved to 1.5GHz and 1.67GHz processors. Apple specs here.

The last revision was released in October 2005. This was a major update, increasing the screen resolution and moving from DDR PC2700 RAM to DDR2 PC4200. This machine came with a 1.67GHz processor. Apple specs here.

How to Identify these Machines

The G4 Aluminum 15" has a silver keyboard and a 15.2" display. They can be distinguished from the earlier Titanium PowerBook G4 by the fact that the earlier machine had a black keyboard. The Aluminium 15" also looks similar to the MacBook Pro, and the easiest way to tell the difference is by opening System Profiler and checking the CPU type - the MacBook Pro has an Intel Core Duo processor, the PowerBook has a PowerPC G4.

There were also 12" and 17" models made - to tell them apart (without measuring), look at the edges of keyboard. If there is no gap then the machine is 12", if there is a 1" gap between the keyboard and the edge then its a 15", if its more like 1.5" then you have a 17" PowerBook.

Apple System Profiler (Apple Menu>About this Mac; click on "More Info") can be used to tell what processor speed you have. Clicking on the PCI/AGP Cards item in Apple System Profiler will also tell you what resolution your PowerBook runs at.

If you are still unsure you can contact us on 01223 833 412, or by email for confirmation. If you want to upgrade but aren't happy to install your upgrades then we can help. Simply ask our engineers for further details.

Memory Upgrades

The PowerBook G4 15" Aluminum has two memory sockets. The machines can accept up to 2GB in RAM in two 1GB chips.

The October 2005 revision of this PowerBook changed from DDR to DDR2 RAM. These PowerBooks can be distinguished by the fact that they are the only PowerBook G4 15" to run in 1440x960 resolution. Clicking on PCI/AGP Cards in Apple System Profiler will tell you what resolution your PowerBook runs at.

INSTALL SERVICE - RAM in an Apple LaptopStock: Available£15.00 + vat (£18.00)
Integral DDR2 PC4200 SODIMM 1GBStock: Available£14.66 + vat (£17.59)1
Integral DDR-PC2700 1GB SODIMMStock: Available£25.46 + vat (£30.55)2
Corsair PC2700 512MB SODIMMStock: Available£23.55 + vat (£28.26)2
1Only compatible with 1.67GHz 15" PowerBooks running at 1440x960 resolution.
2Compatible with 15" PowerBooks with CPUs up to and including 1.5GHz, and the 1.67GHz models that run in 1280x854 resolution.

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 3 / 5 - Reasonably easy.

Turn off the machine and remove the power cable and battery.

The RAM is accessed via a cover on the bottom of the machine secured by four screws. Remove the holding screws and install the new RAM. Apple's own guide on fitting RAM for these machines can be found here.


CD & DVD Drive Upgrades

All PowerBook G4 Aluminums came equipped with a Combo or SuperDrive.

We sell both internal and external CD/DVD writers for this laptop. We also offer an installation service for the internal parts.

INSTALL SERVICE - Internal CD/DVD Drive in a PowerBook, MacBook, MacBook Pro or CubeStock: Available£29.00 + vat (£34.80)
Internal DVDRW for Al PowerBook, iBook G4, G4 Cube, iMac G5 or Intel, Mac Mini and MacBook ProStock: Available£119.00 + vat (£142.80)
REFURB 8x Internal DVDRW for Al PowerBook, iBook G4, G4 Cube, iMac G5 or Intel, Mac Mini and MacBook ProStock: Available£49.00 + vat (£58.80)

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 5/5 - Very Hard (internal)

The optical drive on the PowerBook G4 15" is not classified by Apple as a user installed part. Mac Upgrades can install drives for you, please contact us for details.

You can purchase the drive for installation yourself, but Mac Upgrades cannot provide instructions or support for the install process.


Internal Hard Drive Upgrades

This range of drives will work in your PowerBook G4 15", although user installation is advised against (see below).

If you don't want to fit a new hard drive yourself, you can take advantage of the MacUpgrades Installation Service. Add the installation service from the list below to your cart along with your chosen hard drive. We can also clone your existing hard drive onto the new one, simply add the Clone Original Hard Drive service below to your cart.

Once you have booked the service, send your machine to us, we will carry out the work and return it to you. Alternatively, we do offer a Collection Service with our courier, please see here for details.

INSTALL SERVICE - Internal Hard Drive in a PowerBook or MacBook/MacBook ProStock: Available£29.00 + vat (£34.80)
INSTALL SERVICE - Clone Original Hard DriveStock: Available£25.00 + vat (£30.00)
Western Digital Scorpio 80GB 2.5" IDE 5400RPMStock: Available£69.38 + vat (£83.26)

HDD Mounts for Optical Bay

Optical Drive Bay 2.5" Hard Drive Caddy IDE - SATA for 12.5mm DrivesStock: Available£24.00 + vat (£28.80)1
1IMPORTANT: This caddy allows you to fit any 2.5" SATA hard drive into the optical drive bay. These hard drives are used by Intel Mac laptops such as the MacBook and MacBook Pro and can be found on the pages for those machines. It will not fit the drives listed on this Mac\'s page.

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 4 / 5 Difficult

The PowerBook 15inch's internal hard drive is very difficult to get to, and is not classified by Apple as a user installable part. Installing a replacement drive during warranty will void any remaining warranty.

Mac Upgrades does sell drives for user installation, but we cannot offer instructions or support for the install.

We do offer a drive fitting service, but this is for out of warranty machines only. To preserve warranty, a drive must be fitted by an Apple Authorised Service Centre.


Graphics Card Upgrades

This laptop can take a secondary graphics card through it's PCMCIA (Cardbus) slot, to allow it to control a wider range of external displays that it can by default.

There are no graphics card upgrades available for these Macs

Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy.

Install any supplied software, turn off the machine, and insert the PCMCIA card into the socket on the left of the machine.

Connect it to your monitor and your finished.


Expansion Card Upgrades

Your PowerBook G4 Aluminum has one available PCMCIA socket for connectivity expansion. The slot is located to the left of the machine.

These credit card sized sockets allow users to take advantage of newer, or additional, connectivity.

INSTALL SERVICE - Expansion Slot Card in a Laptop MacStock: Available£15.00 + vat (£18.00)
Apple Airport Extreme Card (refurb)Stock: Available£38.00 + vat (£45.60)1
1Compatible with 15" PowerBooks with CPUs up to and including 1.5GHz, and the 1.67GHz models that run in 1280x854 resolution.

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy.

Install any supplied software, turn off the machine and insert the PCMCIA Card into the socket on the left of the machine.

Restart machine and away you go.

For fitting an Airport card, see Apple's instructions here.


Keyboards & Mice

The following keyboards and mice are compatible with this Mac.

Trust 3 button USB Optical MouseStock: Available£8.50 + vat (£10.20)
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (UK) WiredStock: Available£39.00 + vat (£46.80)

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy

Keyboards plug into the relevant port on your Mac. Mice can either be plugged into your keyboard, or they can be plugged directly into your Mac.

Power Supplies & Batteries

Listed below are power supplies, batteries and related products we supply for this Mac.

Third Party 65W AC adapter for White iBook G3/G4 & PowerBook G4Stock: Available£24.99 + vat (£29.99)
Battery for PowerBook G4 15" AluminiumStock: Available£59.00 + vat (£70.80)

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Cables & Tools

Listed below are power cables, tools and related products we supply for this Mac.

Sonnet FireWire 400 to 800 AdapterStock: Available£12.00 + vat (£14.40)
Torx Screwdriver Set - 20mm T6 T7 T8 T9 T10Stock: Available£5.00 + vat (£6.00)
Screwdriver Set - 20mm Phillips #00, #0, #1 - Flat 1.4mm, 1.8mm, 2.4mmStock: Available£5.00 + vat (£6.00)
Anti Static Wrist StrapStock: Available£7.50 + vat (£9.00)
iKlear Complete Cleaning KitStock: Available£19.16 + vat (£22.99)

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.


External Hard Drive Upgrades

This Mac can use any of the following external hard drives.

3.5" USB Hard Drives

Hitachi Touro Desk USB 3.0 (and 2.0) External Hard Drive - 4TBStock: Available£132.28 + vat (£158.74)1

3.5" FireWire 400/eSATA & USB 2.0 Hard Drives

Macally G-S350SUA External FireWire 400/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 500GB Hard DriveStock: Available£89.52 + vat (£107.42)
Macally G-S350SUA External FireWire 400/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 1TB Hard DriveStock: Available£96.25 + vat (£115.50)
Macally G-S350SUA External FireWire 400/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 2TB Hard DriveStock: Available£116.02 + vat (£139.22)

3.5" FireWire 400/800/eSATA & USB 2.0 Hard Drives

Macally G-S350SUAB External FireWire 400/800/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 500GB Hard DriveStock: Available£109.25 + vat (£131.10)
Macally G-S350SUAB External FireWire 400/800/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 1TB Hard DriveStock: Available£121.54 + vat (£145.85)
Macally G-S350SUAB External FireWire 400/800/eSATA/USB 2 3.5in 2TB Hard DriveStock: Available£139.65 + vat (£167.58)

2.5" FireWire 400 & USB 2.0 Hard Drives

Startech FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 320GB 5400RPM Hard DriveStock: Available£56.15 + vat (£67.38)
Startech FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 500GB 5400RPM Hard DriveStock: Available£60.10 + vat (£72.12)
Startech FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 750GB 5400RPM Hard DriveStock: Available£64.94 + vat (£77.93)
Startech FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 1TB 5400RPM Hard DriveStock: Available£74.07 + vat (£88.88)
Startech FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 500GB 7200RPM Hard DriveStock: Available£65.65 + vat (£78.78)
Startech FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 2.5in 750GB 7200RPM Hard DriveStock: Available£69.28 + vat (£83.14)

Drive Enclosures

NewerTech Voyager Q Quad Interface 2.5 & 3.5 SATA Hard Drive Docking StationStock: Available£59.00 + vat (£70.80)

3.5" Drive Enclosures

Startech External FireWire & USB 2.0 Desktop 3.5" SATA HDD EnclosureStock: Available£35.25 + vat (£42.30)
Macally G-S350SUA External USB 2.0/FW400/eSATA Enclosure for 3.5" SATA HDDStock: Available£52.65 + vat (£63.18)

2.5" Drive Enclosures

Startech External FireWire & USB 2.0 Portable 2.5" SATA HDD EnclosureStock: Available£23.02 + vat (£27.62)
Akasa Integral P2 USB 2.0 & eSATA Enclosure for 2.5" SATA DrivesStock: Available£21.52 + vat (£25.82)2
FireWire Enclosure for 2.5in IDE hard drivesStock: Unavailable£29.00 + vat (£34.80)
1Requires Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or later.
2Only suitable for this Mac if you have a version with USB 2.0 built in, or if you have added USB 2.0 or eSATA with an expansion card. Will not boot this Mac.

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy

Install any supplied software and connect the new device.

You will need to format the drive before use. This is done with the "Drive Setup" utility, which can be found in Applications > Utilities.

Continue
Serial Number Search
Input your Mac's serial number to find your model, and configure upgrades.


More Info
We have moved!
MacUpgrades has moved offices. If you are coming to visit us, get our new address here
Shopping Cart more
0 items
Information
MacUpgrades & You
How To Order
Shipping Information
Installation Service
FAQs & Guides
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Notice
About Us
Contact Us
Positive Feedback
Newsletter
Quick Find
 
Use keywords to find the product you are looking for.
Advanced Search
Specials more
OWC DDR3 PC12800 SODIMM - 16GB Kit (2 x 8GB)
OWC DDR3 PC12800 SODIMM - 16GB Kit (2 x 8GB)
£105.46
£83.26
Categories
 Processor Upgrades
 RAM
 Optical Drives
 Internal Hard Drives
 External Hard Drives
 eSATA Storage
 Graphics Cards
 Expansion Cards
 Keyboards & Mice
 Power Supplies & Batteries
 Cables & Tools
 Networking
 Software
 Clearance Items and Parts
Manufacturers

© Copyright 2005 - 2013 www.macupgrades.co.uk -- Mac Upgrades is trading division of Second Chance PC Limited, independent Macintosh specialists since 2001.
All images, logos and pictures remain the property of their respective owners.
Apple, Mac, MacBook, PowerBook, PowerMac, iMac, eMac and iBook are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
All images are for illustrative purposes only. All offers Exclude Errors and Omissions
Company number 4331031. Registered for VAT GB 783705210.
Website powered by osCommerce.