Apple PowerBook G4
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 18 of 63 laptops by recommenders
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.
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.
32 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 72%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Iconic, beautiful design
“The TiBook was a milestone product and a great Jony Ive-led design.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Report: Tim Cook could step down as Apple CEO 'as soon as next year'” “still my favorite laptop ever, in terms of looks and form factor”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “The PowerPC Has Still Got It (Llama on G4 Laptop)” “the older fan favorite 12-inch PowerBook G4 (circa 2003)”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Apple introduces the new iPad Air, powered by M4” - Comment from 8 Mar 2026 in “FrameBook”
Wakes instantly from sleep
“One of the best things about it was that I could open the lid and it would immediately be awake and ready to use.”
Comment from 15 Jul 2026 in “The infinite scroll may become endangered if controversial Calif. law passes” “They've always resumed quickly.”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Steve wants us to make the Macintosh boot faster” Capable for its era
“My best Mac was a PowerBook G4 that could run Windows on a VM faster than most Windows machines at the time.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman” “It's good enough for most of my work, though modern web-browsing is a challenge.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “The PowerPC Has Still Got It (Llama on G4 Laptop)” “it can surprisingly do a lot”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “27-year-old Apple iBooks can connect to Wi-Fi and download official updates”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hinges fail over time
“Titanium powerbooks had hinges that would break in a year.”
Comment from 19 Aug 2026 in “Fixing a Bricked Framework Laptop” “both infamous for hinge failure”
Comment from 28 Mar 2026 in “People inside Microsoft are fighting to drop mandatory Microsoft Account” Struggles with modern websites
“I loved that machine. I tried to use it recently but it's hopeless: only a couple websites come up.”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “OLED burn-in test: 30-month update” “It's good enough for most of my work, though modern web-browsing is a challenge.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “The PowerPC Has Still Got It (Llama on G4 Laptop)” “But open one website, and the machine went down. Unusable.”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “The 49MB Web Page”
Other laptops people recommend
The four most recommended other laptops, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple MacBook Pro | 928 | 688 | 57% | 13 | 5 yrs248 owners | — |
| Apple MacBook Neo | 707 | 355 | 66% | 9 | 1 mo8 owners | — |
| MacBook Air | 633 | 209 | 75% | 12 | 5 yrs130 owners | Approved |
| Apple MacBook | 499 | 348 | 59% | 12 | 9 yrs77 owners | — |
| Apple PowerBook G4This page | 23 | 9 | 72% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
All 32 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Modular, easy to repair and even the CPU is on a swappable board.”
“I loved that machine. I tried to use it recently but it's hopeless: only a couple websites come up.”
“I have a Powerbook G4 with a nice matte screen”
“The 12" G4 laptop was infamous for slowly cooking your junk with their titanium shell.”
“Titanium powerbooks had hinges that would break in a year.”
“One of the best things about it was that I could open the lid and it would immediately be awake and ready to use.”
“it just didn't feel like it was actually worthwhile”
“even on 800Mhz G4 Titanium Powerbook this was the behavior”
“my all time favourite computer was the 12" PowerBook G4”
“When I left Windows for PPC my PowerBook G4 was at best even with my previous (not new) PC laptop.”
“My best Mac was a PowerBook G4 that could run Windows on a VM faster than most Windows machines at the time.”
“was both awkward as an e-book reader and heavier than the unbound printed pages”
“the laptops were so stupidly-locked you couldn't even apply security updates”
“both infamous for hinge failure”
“still have the TiBook with Myst on it.”
“that flopped up and down like a 5 and a quarter inch floppy was maddening”
“But open one website, and the machine went down. Unusable.”
“Best Apple keyboard ever has to be the 12" PowerBook G4, but that may just be nostalgic”
“Too bad about the titanium.”
“it seemed like the future. DVD drive, modem, Ethernet, full sized DVI port”
“What a beautiful design it was.”
“The chassis is so spacious and the Macbook Air logic boards are so small”
“the older fan favorite 12-inch PowerBook G4 (circa 2003)”
“It was a fantastic machine, I got about 12 solid years of use from it before it finally died.”
“my PowerBook G4 can get on Wi-Fi and download software regardless”
“it can surprisingly do a lot”
“Tiger on a G4 tibook was peak apple.”
“They've always resumed quickly.”
“The TiBook was a milestone product and a great Jony Ive-led design.”
“It's good enough for most of my work, though modern web-browsing is a challenge.”
“still my favorite laptop ever, in terms of looks and form factor”
“The results were in the spirit of other Apple engineering marvels (Titanium Powerbook, Antennagate, Bendgate).”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.