Apple PowerBook G4 (15-inch, 1.67/1.5GHz) Technical Information

15inch PowerBook G4Developer Note(Legacy)

All FeaturesHere is a list of the features of the 15inch PowerBook G4. Each feature is described in a later chapter, asindicated in the list. ●Proces

●USB 2.0 ports: The computer has two USB 2.0 ports for an external keyboard, a mouse, and other USBdevices, described in “USB 2.0 Ports” (page 26). ●

AppearanceFigure 11 (page 12) is a front view of the 15inch PowerBook G4 computer. Figure 12 (page 13) providesside views that show the I/O ports.F

Figure 1-2 Side views showing I/O ports®Internalmodem portPoweradapter portHeadphoneoutPC Card slotUSB 2.0portAudio line in®SecurityslotGigabit Ethern

●The Apple Portable Power Adapter, which comes with the computer, is also available separately. Theadapter can fully recharge a completely depleted b

Computer IdentificationRather than reading the box flag or the model string and then making assumptions about the computer’sfeatures, applications tha

Important: Peripherals such as PCMCIA cards and USB devices that do not conform to the computer’spower management protocols prevent the computer from

This chapter describes the architecture of the 15inch PowerBook G4. It includes information about the majorcomponents on the main logic board: the mi

Block DiagramFigure 21 (page 18) is a simplified block diagram of the main logic board. The diagram shows the input andoutput connectors, the Intrepi

The PowerPC G4 microprocessor is connected to the Intrepid IC by a MaxBus. The bus clock speed is 167 MHz.Additional buses implemented by the Intrepid

ContentsIntroduction to 15-inch PowerBook G4 Developer Note 7Organization of This Document 7Overview of the 15-inch PowerBook G4 8New Features 8All Fe

Intrepid Controller Functions and BusesThe Intrepid IC provides the functions of a memory controller and an I/O device controller in the 15inchPowerB

Boot ROMThe boot ROM is connected to the Intrepid IC by way of the high byte of the PCI bus plus three additionalcontrol signals: chip select, write e

●transform acceleration ●lighting acceleration ●video acceleration ●support for MPEG decoding ●support for video mirror mode ●support for dualdispla

USB InterfaceThe Intrepid IC has three independent USB 1.1 Open Host Controller Interface (OHCI) controllers. One is usedfor the modem module and the

For a description of the features of the sound system, see “Sound System” (page 55).Power ControllerThe 15inch PowerBook G4 can operate from a 15 vol

AirPort Extreme InterfaceAirPort Extreme contains a media access controller (MAC), a digital signal processor (DSP), and a radiofrequency(RF) section

This chapter describes both the builtin I/O devices and the ports for connecting external I/O devices. Each ofthe following sections describes an I/O

DescriptionSignal namePinData +D+3GroundGND4The computer provides 5volt power at 500 mA for each of the two ports.The external USB 2.0 ports support

FireWire 400 ConnectorThe 6pin FireWire 400 technology ●supports serial I/O at 100, 200, and 400 Mbps ●provides up to 7 watts of power when the compu

Pin 2 of the 6pin FireWire connector is ground for both power and the inner cable shield. If a 4pin connectoris used on the other end of the FireWir

Sudden Motion Sensor 24AirPort Extreme Interface 25CardBus Controller IC 25PCI USB 2.0 Controller 25Devices and Ports 26USB 2.0 Ports 26USB Connectors

DescriptionSignal namePinPower GroundVG6Status Contact (no connection; reserved)SC7Power Voltage (approximately 12.8 V DC)VP8Twistedpair B Ground Ref

●General services for the Audio Video Control (AV/C) protocol and support for most digital video (DV)cameras and decks using this protocol, including

Table 3-4 Signals for 10BaseT and 100BaseT operationSignal definitionSignal namePinTransmit (positive lead)TXP1Transmit (negative lead)TXN2Receive (

The Ethernet interface in the 15inch PowerBook G4 conforms to the ISO/IEC 802.3 specification, whereapplicable, and complies with IEEE specifications

Note: As is the case with the existing IEEE 802.11b standard, actual data throughput speeds willbe lower than the indicated maximum connection speed

AirPort Extreme SoftwareThe 15inch PowerBook G4 includes software for setting up and using AirPort Extreme: ●AirPort Extreme Setup Assistant, an easy

Hard Disk DriveThe standard storage capacity of the internal 5400 rpm hard disk drive is 80 GB, and is available with abuildtoorder option of a 5400

Hard Disk DimensionsFigure 34 (page 37) shows the maximum dimensions of the hard disk and the location of the mounting holes.The minimum clearance be

Hard Disk ConnectorThe internal hard disk has a 48pin connector that carries both the ATA signals and the power for the drive.The connector has the d

Signal namePin numberSignal namePin numberDD1110DD49DD1212DD311DD1314DD213DD1416DD115DD1518DD017KEY20GROUND19GROUND22DMARQ21GROUND24/DIOW, /STOP23GROU

Digitizing Sound 58Expansion Features 59RAM Expansion Slots 59Accessing the RAM Slots 60Mechanical Design of DDR RAM SODIMMs 60Electrical Design of D

Table 3-7 Signals on the ATA hard disk connectorSignal descriptionSignal nameDevice address; used by the computer to select one of the registers in th

Signal descriptionSignal nameHardware reset to the drive; an active low signal./RESETStop request; an active low signal./STOPThis pin is the key for t

SuperDriveSome configurations of the 15inch PowerBook G4 have a slotloading SuperDrive drive.The SuperDrive can read and write DVD media and CD medi

manner as clicking and dragging with the mouse. By default, vertical and horizontal scrolling is possible bydragging two fingers across the trackpad.

The next sections describe these groups of keys and the way their alternate modes of operation are selectedby using the Fn key, and the Num Lock key.K

Figure 37 (page 45) and Figure 38 (page 46) include duplicate versions of some keys in order to show theiralternate modes of operation. In some case

Figure 3-8 Embedded numeric keypad operationnum lock is off and fn key is down.num lock is off and fn key is up.num lock is on.Using the Fn KeyPressin

●It changes certain control keys, including the cursor control keys, to page control keys, as shown in Table312 (page 49) and Figure 38 (page 46).N

Control buttonKey name* Available when the ambient light is low enough to enable the backlight illumination feature.The Embedded KeypadA certain group

Table 3-12 Control keys that changeAlternate functionKey nameRight shift keyShiftRight control keyControlAlt gr (right Alt key)OptionWindows keyComman

Figures and TablesOverview of the 15-inch PowerBook G4 8Figure 11 Front view of the computer 12Figure 12 Side views showing I/O ports 13Table 11 Fe

Shape of pixelsBlack marginsDisplay area usedPicture sizesquareno1280 by 854720 by 480squareyes1024 by 768800 by 600stretchedno1280 by 854800 by 600sq

for the external monitor set to 640 by 480 or 800 by 600, the image on the internal display is smaller than itsscreen. For resolution settings larger

When the builtin display and an external display are operating at the same time, each is allocated 32 MB ofvideo memory in 64 MB VRAM systems or 64 M

DVII ConnectorThe external monitor connector is a DVII connector. It carries both digital and analog video signals. Figure39 (page 53) shows the co

Signal namePinAnalog Blue VideoC3Analog Horizontal SyncC4Analog Common Ground ReturnC5The graphics data sent to the digital monitor use transition min

S-video output connectorPin numberUnused6Unused7An adapter (included) can be plugged into the Svideo connector and accepts an RCA plug for connecting

The 15inch PowerBook G4 can record sound data from the builtin microphone, an audio CD, the audio linein, or a USB audio device. For each sound inpu

The audio line in has the following electrical characteristics: ●maximum input signal amplitude 2 Vrms (5.65 Vpp), +8 dbu peak ●input impedance 30 kil

Digitizing SoundIf a sound sampled at a low rate on another computer is played as output, the Sound Manager transparentlyupsamples the sound to 44.1 k

This chapter describes the expansion features of the 15inch PowerBook G4: the RAM expansion slots and theCardBus slot.RAM Expansion SlotsThe15inch P

Table 315 Picture sizes on a digital display 52Table 316 Main signals on the DVII connector 53Table 317 MicroCross signals on the DVII connector

Accessing the RAM SlotsThe user can access the RAM expansion slots by removing the memory slot cover on the back of the computer,as shown in Figure 4

Electrical Design of DDR RAM SODIMMsDDR SODIMMs for the 15inch PowerBook G4 are required to be PC2700 compliant. For information aboutthe PC2700 sp

Configuration of DDR RAM SODIMMsTable 41 shows information about the different sizes of DDR SDRAM devices used in the memory modules.The first two c

Column addressbitsRow address bitsDevice configuration (bytes x bits xbanks)Device size8121 M x 32 x 4128 Mbits10138 M x 8 x 4256 Mbits9134 M x 16 x 4

For more information about the technologies mentioned in this developer note, you may wish to consult someof the following references.For information

Velocity EngineVelocity Engine is Apple’s name for the AltiVec vector processor in the PowerPC G4 microprocessor. Appleprovides support for developers

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1061.htmlTN1062: Open Firmware, Part II, available athttp://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1062.htmlTN10

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Hardware/DeviceManagers/ata/ata.htmlInformation about the ATA standards is available at the Technical Committ

Wireless NetworksMore information about WiFi and wireless networks using the IEEE 802.11 standard is available on the websiteof the WiFi Alliance, at

Here a lists of abbreviations used in this developer note.Abbreviations and Standard UnitsStandard units of measure used in this note include:megabyte

Important: This document may not represent best practices for current development. Links to downloadsand other resources may no longer be valid.This

ATA Interface ModuleAIMAmerican National Standards InstituteANSIapplication programming interfaceAPIapplicationspecific integrated circuitASICAT atta

Generation 4, the fourth generation of PowerPC microprocessors, incorporating AltiVectechnologyG4groundGNDhierarchical file systemHFShardcopy cable re

nonvolatile randomaccess memoryNVRAMOpen Host Controller Interface — USB 1.1 protocolOHCIoperating systemOSPeripheral Component Interconnect, an indu

Logo used by the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance for certification ofinteroperability of 802.11 productsWiFiwireless LANWLANzone constant li

Numerals3D graphics, reference information for 64Aabbreviations 69accelerated graphics port. See AGPAGP bus 22AirPort Admin Utility 35AirPort Extreme

external monitors 50–54connector 53mirror mode with 50VGA, SVGA, and XGA monitors 51Ffeatures 10FireWire 27–31longhaul cables 30FireWire 400 28FireWi

Nnew features 8NTSC video monitor 54OOHCI 23, 25Open Firmware 14reference information for 65PPAL video monitor 54PCI USB 2.0 controller 25peripheral d

units of measure 69Universal Serial Bus. See USB portsUSB 1.1 23USB 2.0 25USB 2.0 connectors 26USB 2.0 controller IC 25USB 2.0 ports 26–27connectors 2

Apple Inc.© 2003, 2005 Apple Computer, Inc.All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmit

This chapter outlines the features of the 15inch PowerBook G4, with emphasis on the changes from theprevious models.New FeaturesThe features that hav

Table 1-1 Feature comparisonCurrent modelPrevious modelFeaturePowerPC G4Processoraluminum alloyEnclosure1.5 GHz or 1.67 GHz1.33 GHz or 1.5 GHzProcesso