# Apple PowerBook G4

23 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple PowerBook G4 and 9 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for its design, fast wake from sleep and long lifespan; the most common caveat is that its titanium hinges fail and modern web browsing is slow.

## Why people recommend it

- Iconic, beautiful design (4 comments): "The TiBook was a milestone product and a great Jony Ive-led design." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45942768)) "still my favorite laptop ever, in terms of looks and form factor" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45902530)) "the older fan favorite 12-inch PowerBook G4 (circa 2003)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47223177))
- Wakes instantly from sleep (2 comments): "One of the best things about it was that I could open the lid and it would immediately be awake and ready to use." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48915117)) "They've always resumed quickly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46396738))
- Capable for its era (3 comments): "My best Mac was a PowerBook G4 that could run Windows on a VM faster than most Windows machines at the time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47845112)) "It's good enough for most of my work, though modern web-browsing is a challenge." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45902651)) "it can surprisingly do a lot" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47067362))

## What people warn about

- Hinges fail over time (2 comments): "Titanium powerbooks had hinges that would break in a year." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49362212)) "both infamous for hinge failure" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47553392))
- Struggles with modern websites (3 comments): "I loved that machine. I tried to use it recently but it's hopeless: only a couple websites come up." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50013591)) "It's good enough for most of my work, though modern web-browsing is a challenge." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45902651)) "But open one website, and the machine went down. Unusable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47394361))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple MacBook Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-pro.md): 928 recommend
- [Apple MacBook Neo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-neo.md): 707 recommend
- [MacBook Air](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-air.md): 633 recommend
- [Apple MacBook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macbook.md): 499 recommend
- [Framework Laptop 12](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framework-laptop-12.md): 83 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Apple+PowerBook+G4+12+inch+titanium&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apple PowerBook G4", https://hackerapproved.com/p/powerbook-g4/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).