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iBook/Combo vs. PowerBook G4/667: Mac OS X 10.1.3 speed tests
March 8, 2002
by Stephen Hildreth
Editor-in-Chief
How much faster is the PowerBook G4/667 than the 600MHz iBook? I ran some seat-of-the-pants comparisons using Mac OS X 10.1.3 on both machines in their standard this-is-how-they-ship-from-the-Apple-Store configurations and a stopwatch. The PowerBook has a 667MHz G4 processor, 512MB of RAM, 16MB of VRAM, and a 30GB hard drive. The iBook has a 600MHz G3 processor, 128MB of RAM, 8MB of VRAM, and 20GB hard drive. Here are how the cards fell (all times are in seconds):
| PowerBook |
iBook |
Test |
| 128 |
95 |
Boot OS X until menu clock appears |
| 1 |
3 |
Wake from sleep |
| 5 |
7 |
Launch IE 5.1 |
| 2 |
3 |
Relaunch IE 5.1 |
| 2 |
3 |
Launch Systems Preferences |
| 5 |
18 |
Open 60k Word v.X document |
| 5 |
22 |
Scroll 28 page 60k Word v.X document |
| 24 |
31 |
Launch Classic with extensions disabled |
I suspect that the PowerBook took longer to boot because it has 512MB of RAM. The iBook only has 128MB. I'll redo the tests once I get the iBook maxed at 640MB, and its times should improve. Note to Apple: The iBook should ship with at least 256MB of RAM if you're going to use Mac OS X as the default OS.
My initial impression that basic finder tasks are about the same seems to be true. Launching applications and waking from sleep are about the same between the PowerBook and the iBook. The main differences appear when you start taxing the CPU or video card--then the PowerBook shines.
I'll run some basic tests using Mac OS 9.2.2 next. Anything you'd like to see in particular? Let me know.
Silence
I written before about how I think the TiBook is noisy. That impression hasn't changed--the PowerBook G4/667/DVD is one of the noisiest PowerBooks I've ever used. The fan comes on regularly, and the hard drive is noisy when accessing data. This still doesn't bother me, since I enjoy white noise, but I can see how embarrassing this could be in a situation like a quiet classroom.
The iBook, on the other hand, is as silent as a tomb. No fan, and barely a whisper from the hard drive. Nice. |
