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Apple Power Macintosh G4 500 Cube Specs

Identifiers: Power Mac G4 Cube - BTO/CTO - PowerMac5,1 - M7886 - 1844

All Power Macintosh G4 Models | All 2000 Models | Dynamically Compare This Mac to Others

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Apple Power Mac G4 CubeThe Apple Power Macintosh G4/500 Cube, officially dubbed the "Power Mac G4 Cube", features a 500 MHz PowerPC 7400 or 7410 (G4) processor with the AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processing unit and 1 MB of backside cache. By default, it was configured with 128 MB of RAM, a 30 GB Ultra ATA/66 hard drive, a slot-loading 5X DVD-ROM drive, and a 2X AGP ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card with 16 MB of SDRAM and sold for US$2299. AirPort (802.11b) as well as alternate hard drives and graphics cards were available by custom configuration.

Please note that the Power Macintosh G4/500 Cube only was available direct from Apple, but the Power Macintosh G4/450 Cube was available from resellers as well.

Due to its size, the Power Mac G4 Cube lacks PCI slots and a full-length AGP slot, has three RAM slots instead of four (and a single drive bay instead of four) like the "full-size" Power Macintosh G4 (Gigabit) models available at the time. It also lacks analog audio in and out (using USB for audio out), but otherwise packs comparable power in an attractive eight inch cube. For easy upgrading, the interior housing of the cube slides out from the bottom, providing access to internal components.

Unfortunately, the Power Mac G4 Cube was not financially successful, as it generally was viewed as too expensive compared to the other Power Macintosh G4 models, and Apple placed it on "indefinite hold" on July 3, 2001. However, it was largely credited as providing the inspiration for the Mac mini series.

Also see: What are the differences between the Power Mac G4 Cube models?

Despite the age of this system, site sponsor Other World Computing has RAM, hard drives, SSDs, and other upgrades available for this specific Mac while supplies last.


  • Tech Specs
  • Ports
  • Popular Q&As

Click on the category for related details. The most commonly needed info is "open" by default, but all info is important.


July 19, 2000 July 3, 2001*
Details: The "Introduction Date" refers to the date a model was introduced via press release. The "Discontinued Date" refers to the date a model either was replaced by a subsequent system or production otherwise ended.

On July 3, 2001, Apple placed the Power Mac G4 Cube on "indefinite hold".

Also see: All Macs introduced in 2000.
1 323
Details: This model only is compatible with the 32-bit Geekbench 2 benchmark. These numbers reflect an average of user provided 32-bit and 64-bit results as submitted to the Geekbench website. Higher numbers are better.

You also might be interested in reviewing all 32-bit Geekbench 2 user submissions for Macs with the PowerMac5,1 Model Identifier, which may include multiple models.

To dynamically compare Geekbench results from different Macs side-by-side, see EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Comparison.
500 MHz PowerPC 7400* (G4)
Details: The PowerPC G4 includes the AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processor.

*Apple provides no official information beyond "G4", but later models have a PowerPC 7410 (G4) processor.
AGP G4 Daughtercard Integrated
Details: The Power Macintosh G4 Cube models have the processor mounted on a custom 300-pin daughtercard.
100 MHz 250 MHz
Details: This system has a 250 MHz backside bus and 1 MB of level 2 cache.
Open Firmware 1 MB
Details: Boot ROM and around 1 MB, other instructions are loaded into RAM (NewWorld).
64k 1 MB (backside)
Details: The 1 MB of backside cache has a 250 MHz bus.
PC100 SDRAM 100 MHz
Details: Officially supports 100 MHz PC100 SDRAM (3.3v, unbuffered, 64-bit-wide, 168-pin), but PC133 SDRAM is backwards compatible and may be used as well. Apple also noted that this model has "full 128-bit internal memory data paths".
128 MB 1.5 GB
Details: Site sponsor Other World Computing sells memory -- as well as other upgrades -- for this Power Macintosh G4.

In Germany, site sponsor CompuRAM sells memory and other upgrades for this Power Mac G4.

Also see: Actual Max RAM of All G3 & Later Macs.
None 3
Details: N/A
Rage 128 Pro* SDRAM
Details: *Commonly configured with an ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card with 16 MB of SDRAM. Also available with an ATI Radeon with 16 MB of SDRAM or a NVIDIA GeForce2 MX video card with 32 MB of SDRAM. The video card occupies a dedicated "short" 2X AGP slot.

Please note that Apple does not support upgrading the video in the Power Mac G4 Cube.
16 MB 16 MB
Details: Commonly configured with an ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card with 16 MB of SDRAM. Also available with an ATI Radeon with 16 MB of SDRAM or a NVIDIA GeForce2 MX video card with 32 MB of SDRAM. Apple does not support upgrading the video in the Power Mac G4 Cube.
Single Display 1920x1200
Details: Apple advertised that this system can support "up to 1920 by 1200 pixel resolution at 32 bits per pixel (millions of colors)".
None N/A
Details: N/A
30 GB* HDD 5400 RPM
Details: *Originally configured with a 30 GB (5400 RPM) hard drive, but it also could be configured with a 40 GB (5400 RPM) or 60 GB (7200 RPM) hard drive.

In the US (and many other countries), site sponsor Other World Computing sells storage upgrades for this Power Mac G4.

Also see: SSD Compatibility Guide for All G3 & Later Macs.
3.5" (25.4 mm) Ultra ATA/66 (ATA-5)
Details: Onboard support for a single 3.5" Ultra ATA/66 (ATA-5) hard drive. Drives larger than 128 GB are not natively supported.
5X DVD-ROM* None
Details: Originally configured with a 5X DVD-ROM, CD-RW drive of unspecified speed also available starting February 22, 2001. The optical drive uses a EIDE (ATA-3) bus.
56k v.90 10/100Base-T
Details: Internal modem and 10/100Base-T Ethernet standard. Gigabit Ethernet promoted as a build-to-order upgrade but it never shipped.
802.11b (Optional) None
Details: AirPort (802.11b) was available as a build-to-order addition.
2 (1.1) 2 (400)
Details: USB 1.1 ports are dual channel.
AP* 1** 3.5"
Details: *In the default configuration, this model has an open AirPort (802.11b) expansion slot. The graphics card occupies a dedicated "short" 2X AGP slot that Apple does not intend to be upgraded.

**It has a single 3.5" drive bay occupied by the hard drive. The system also has a 5.25" drive bay occupied by the optical drive.
Apple Pro Keyboard Apple Pro Mouse
Details: N/A
Cube Power Mac G4 Cube
Details: N/A
BTO/CTO Power Mac G4 Cube
Details: As this model only was offered as a custom configuration of the Power Macintosh G4/450 Cube, it does not have its own order number.
M7886 (EMC 1844) PowerMac5,1
Details: Please note that these identifiers refer to more than one model.

Also see: All Macs with the M7886 Model Number, the 1844 EMC Number, and the PowerMac5,1 Model Identifier.

For more about these identifiers and how to locate them on each Mac, please refer to EveryMac.com's Mac Identification section.
3.6V Lithium N/A
Details: N/A
9.0.4, 9.1* X 10.4.11
Details: *Models shipped starting February 22, 2001 had Mac OS 9.1 pre-installed. This system is not supported running versions of Mac OS X more recent than 10.4.11.

Also see: Is there a "hack" to make Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" run on unsupported Power Mac G4 models?
Boot/Classic Mode Emulation Only
Details: This Power Macintosh G4 model is capable of booting Mac OS 9 and using Mac OS 9 applications within the Mac OS X "Classic" environment.
9.8 x 7.7 x 7.7 14.0 lbs. (6.4 kg)
Details: In inches - height by width by depth, (24.8 cm, 19.5 cm, 19.5 cm).
US$2299 US$200-US$500
Details: Photo Credit: Apple Computer.


Click on a category for additional details. The most commonly needed info is "open" by default, but all info is important. The icons correspond with the icons for each port on the computer.


1 VGA, 1 ADC None
Details: One VGA and one ADC port.
None None
Details: N/A
None None
Details: N/A
2 (1.1) 2 (400)
Details: USB 1.1 ports are dual channel.
1 (RJ-11) 1 (RJ-45)
Details: 10/100Base-T Ethernet standard. Gigabit Ethernet promoted as a build-to-order configuration but it never shipped.
None None
Details: N/A
None None
Details: N/A
None* 1*
Details: The Power Mac G4 Cube lacks analog audio out, and instead uses USB. The external USB amplifier has a headphone jack.
1 N/A
Details: N/A
1 N/A
Details: 115V AC (90V to 132V AC) or 230V AC (180V to 264V AC). Originally 225W maximum, configurations shipped starting February 22, 2001, 205W maximum.

Ten of the most popular Q&As about the Power Macintosh G4 models follow.



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