iBook G4 Upgrades

Apple decided to ditch the G3 from its whole range in October 2003, as it introduced G4 power to the consumer portable range. An improved logic board supporting DDR RAM and Airport Extreme gave the machine an overall faster feel. The machines came with either Combo or SuperDrive optical drives.

As with all of Apple's consumer level ("i" series) machines, they are not very upgradeable. Only the RAM and the hard drive may be upgraded.

The G4 iBooks are OSX only, so cannot boot into OS9.

The first iBook G4 was released in October 2003, with an 800MHz 12" model, and 933MHz and 1GHz 14" versions. Apple specs here.

In June 2004 a speed bump moved the 12" model to 1GHz, dropped the 933MHz 14" and brought in a 1.2GHz 14" model. Apple specs here.

Another speed bump in October 2004 saw a 12" 1.2GHz and 12" and 14" 1.33GHz models. Apple specs here.

The last revision in June 2005 moved to PC2700 memory (with 512MB built-in as opposed to 256MB on the earlier models) and added Bluetooth as standard. This revision was sold in a 12" 1.33GHz and 14" 1.42GHz configurations. The 14" 1.42 also increased the front side bus from 133MHz to 142MHz. Apple specs here.

The iBook G4 was replaced in May 2006 by the Intel Core Duo powered MacBook.

The G4 iBook Dual USB came in a number of different processor speeds, and with two screen sizes: a 12.1" and a 14.1" version. The 12.1" models have keyboards which run all the way across the case. The 14.1 units have a small gap between the edges of the keyboard and the sides of the laptop.

The units are very similar to the G3 Dual USB iBooks, and can only really be distinguished by using the Apple System profiler. This can be found from the About this Mac option in OS X. The first page in Apple system profile will list the processor speed and type (G3 or G4).

The G4 iBook is also fairly similar to the white version of the MacBook, again the easiest way is to check System Profile for your CPU type - the MacBook uses an Intel Core Duo processor.

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.

The iBook G4 Dual USBs use DDR RAM, and have one RAM slot which can take up to a 1GB module, in addition to the RAM built into the machine.

You may need to check your iBooks bus speed to check which RAM modules are compatible. You can do this by going to the Apple menu > About this Mac, and then clicking the more info button. This opens System Profiler, on the Hardware Overview that comes up your bus speed will be reported in the right-hand panel.

The iBook G4 Dual USB came equipped with either a Combo or a SuperDrive. This is via a slot loading mechanism on the right hand side of the laptop.

We sell both internal and external CD and DVD writers, and offer fitting on the internal units.

The iBook G4 Dual USB's will use any 9.5mm height 2.5" IDE hard drive, 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.

The graphics card in your iBook G4 Dual USB is part of the main logic board. Unfortunately therefore it is not possible to change the graphics card. It may be worth expanding your memory to its maximum to try and compensate, but this will have at best a limited effect on your iBook's 3D capabilities.

Your iBook G4 Dual USB has no available PCMCIA sockets for connectivity expansion, therefore the only expansion card it can take is the Apple Airport Extreme Wireless networking card.

The last generation of iBook G4s (which had 512MB soldered onto the main board) do not use a standard Airport Extreme card, they use a combined AIrport Extreme and Bluetooth card which can be sourced from Apple - all of these Macs would have been sold with the board in place.

The following keyboards and mice are compatible with this Mac.

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

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

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

Any complete machines of this type or similar that we have for sale are listed here. Please note that these are refurbished models with a 3 month warranty, and that delivery is likely to take 3 - 5 working days. These can be purchased online with the standard website courier delivery charge for the mainland UK only. Please contact us for a quote on shipping to other areas.

Here are the various repair services we offer for this Mac. You can have us take the machine in for evaluation, or book a fixed-price repair if you already know what the fault is and the service is listed below (for services without parts, please see the relevant tab on this page for compatible parts that we sell). If you know what the fault is, but we don't have a fixed-price repair listed below, please contact us for a quote.