Exploring the Rare 17-Inch PowerBook G4 Prototype

As I sit here with this rare prototype of the first 17-inch PowerBook G4, also known as the PowerBook G5.1, I have to say that it's a thrill to be holding one of Apple's most elusive and historic devices in my hands. The 17-inch PowerBook was a significant departure from Apple's typical laptop design, and this prototype offers a unique glimpse into the company's early development stages.

The exterior of this prototype is certainly distinct from its retail counterpart. The aluminum casing is more raw and unfinished compared to the polished finish found on many PowerBook G4 models. I've seen this type of treatment before in my own iMac prototype, which had a smooth plastic outside instead of the characteristic frosted plastic look of the retail iMac G3. It's likely that Apple has opted for this simpler finish in order to save time and money during the early stages of product development.

One notable feature on this prototype is the abundance of stickers, each with its own unique purpose. For example, the "LCD Assy" sticker bears the abbreviation for assembly, while the barcode and number provide tracking information. The display housing also sports a different barcode and number, 035, which may be used to identify specific parts or components within the device. On the backside of the prototype, we find additional stickers, including FCC warnings that caution users about potential interference with other machines and communications devices.

In addition to these functional stickers, we also see an Apple Development Team sticker, which is a common feature on many prototypes. This tag likely serves as a means of tracking and identifying the device's origin and purpose within Apple's product development process. It's worth noting that some prototypes may have different team names or labels in varying colors, each serving their own unique function.

Another intriguing sticker we find is the MediMac logo, which was an internal team responsible for assisting people with prototype testing. While I've seen this sticker before, it's always exciting to see one with a specific message or designation, such as "Apple Prototype Development Support." The address printed on this sticker also corresponds to medimac.apple.com, suggesting that the MediMac team played a crucial role in facilitating communication between Apple engineers and developers.

As we continue to explore this prototype, we find evidence of different parts and components being used. For example, the logic board is partially exposed, revealing a red-colored board that would normally be covered by a protective casing. This difference in coloration is not unique to this device; I've seen similar practices employed in other Apple prototypes, such as my iMac prototype which featured a yellow-brown logic board.

The hinge area of this prototype also features a barcode and some handwritten notes, providing further insight into the device's development process. While hand-written notes are not uncommon on prototypes, they serve as a poignant reminder that these devices were often created during a time when human touch and imperfection were still present in the product design process.

As we prepare to open up this prototype and examine its internal components, I can feel a sense of excitement and anticipation building. What secrets will we uncover beneath the surface of this device? How does it compare to other Apple products from the same era? Stay tuned as we embark on this journey into the world of 17-inch PowerBook prototypes.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- This may look like yourtypical 17-inch PowerBook G4,but nope, it's a rare prototype.And we're gonna explore today.(upbeat music)Hey, guys, how are you all doing?If you're new here, welcome.My name is Krazy Ken,and I have before me a prototypeof the first 17-inch PowerBookG4, the PowerBook5,1.The first PowerBook G417-inch came out in 2003,and Apple made 17-inch computersfor several years after that.And the final 17-inchnotebook product Apple madewas the MacBook Pro in 2011.And that was discontinued in 2012.So Apple hasn't made a 17-inchnotebook in about 10 years.This was the beginning ofit in the prototype stage.So I gotta give a specialshout out to DongleBookProfor loaning me this unit.And we're gonna havesome fun with it today.So we'll start by looking at the exteriorand see how things are different comparedto a retail PowerBook G4.Then we'll open up the lidand look on the inside,and then we'll actuallyopen up the computerand really look on the inside.And then we'll plug it in and boot it upand explore it a bit.So if you're ready, let's go.This aluminum is a lotmore raw compared to this.And you know, I'm not analuminum machining expert,but I'm guessing thisgoes through anodizationand probably some other treatmentsthat the prototype doesn't go through.And there's probablysome different reasonsthat Apple has for that.But a main reason I would guess is,why go through the time and moneyto manufacture those nicefinishes and processeson the chassis and the materialsif you're still just testing the product?There's not always agood reason to do thatif you're just in theearlier testing stages.And this happens with alot of Apple products.In fact, my iMac prototypehas a smooth plastic outsideas opposed to that texturedfrosted plastic lookof the retail iMac G3.So there's several stickers on this thing,for example, LCD Assy,which I just love that abbreviation,but it's short for assembly.And there's a barcode and a number.My educated guess would bethat's for tracking parts.And then here, you have display housingwith a different barcodeand a different number, 035.And on the backside, thereis even more fun stickers,including the fan favoriteFCC warnings sayingthat this device is not passed FCC testingbecause devices emit signalsthat could cause interferencewith other machines andother communications,so they have to go through testing.And if they haven't gone through testing,typically, there's a warning on there,which really means youcan't sell this thing yet.There's also the Apple Development Team,looks like some sortof asset tracking tag.I've seen this on manydifferent prototypes.Sometimes they'll havedifferent team names on there,and the labels will bein different colors,and there's always a barcode on there.And then usually, oneof my favorite stickersto find is the MediMac sticker,which was Apple's internalteam to assist peoplewith prototype testing.An interesting thing is,even though I've seenthese stickers before,I can't recall seeing a MediMac stickerthat specifically said ApplePrototype Development Support.And here, the addressis kind of mangled here,but that does say medimac.apple.com.And then down here, justlike we saw earlier,three more barcodes for different parts.As you can probably see,I have part of the logicboard exposed here.This would normally get covered upwith this little cover here.And then the battery,which is also a prototype battery,a DVT sample, would be here.If you take those out, youget that red logic board.Apple likes to use differentcolored boards for prototypesjust like in my iMac prototype.It's more of like a yellow brown board,but the retail versionhas a green board in it.And we'll open up this thing soonso you can get even more red goodness.On the hinge here, wehave another bar codelike we saw earlier with other parts,but we also have some handwriting.And I really like seeinghandwriting on prototypes'cause it really justdrives the point home,\"Hey, there's real people atApple working on these things.They're not just like some bigmagical Willy Wonka factory.\"But anyway, so here it says P84,which is the internal codename for this product.And Apple, a lot of times,will use letters andnumbers mixed together.And this one is P84.And EVT is an abbreviation forEngineering Validation Test,which is a stage of prototyping.And essentially, that stage means you havea working prototype now,but now it's time to makemaybe 10 or 20 units or soto actually start testing it.So Engineering Validation Test, EVT.So on the inside,we have yet another fun sticker.This is the configuration sticker,which has little filled in squares,which indicate what parts are being usedin this specific build of the prototype.And also, there's another barcode here,indicating the top case part.And yes, the top case also hasthat kind of smooth, shiny metal.Even the trackpad buttonhas a different shineand feel to it comparedto the retail version.The bezel is also shiny,has more of that raw aluminumkind of feel and look.And the word PowerBookG4 is not on the bezel.That would happen a lotwith certain prototypes.The names just wouldn'tbe on the product at all.Sometimes there's like a little spacefor the silk screen to be applied,but it's just empty.And sometimes it'll just beX'ed out with literal Xs.But in this case, there'sjust nothing there.And the keycaps also havelittle indentations on them,but the indentationsseem to be equally spacedin multiple areas.So my theory is,that was some sort of durability test,pressure test for testing the keyboard.And you can see those little indentationsif you look reallyclosely on the keyboard.And I just think that'sreally, really neat.So if we take a look at the inside,we can see much more ofthat awesome red board.So this is where thekeyboard in the top case was.And you unscrew that,and it comes right off.And voila, the logic board is there,along with the hard driveand the optical drive,which also says DVT3 on it.That is Design Validation Test.A fascinating thing about prototypes,kinda like the handwriting thingI was talking about earlier,you can really see the sortof like human MacGyver-y movesthat are done with these builds.Because if you look atthe wiring and the tape,it's not necessarily sloppy,but it's definitely not as neatas it would be in a retail productbecause it really doesn't have to bein this earlier stage of prototyping.Another cool thing,speaking of handwriting,this top case here,under this cable for the trackpad,the label says sample on it with a number.And it looks like it's written in pen.So let's get it put backtogether and boot it up.And just to manage expectations,prototypes don't alwayshave internal software lefton the hard drive because thehard drives are either nukedor there's a completely differenthard drive in them anyway.All right, time to boot her up.Here we go.Hard drives kicking in.I definitely hearsome extra like (beeps)noises coming from here,not sure why, but prototype.(laptop buzzing loudly)So here we are in Mac OS X Tiger.Let's take a look at theAbout panel, 10.4.11,and the build number, 8S165.That is not anything special.So this is not an internalbuild or anything,at least judging by the build number.But for fun, let's takea look at More info.And as I expected,the serial number is completely blank.That's pretty cool to see.But this also does confirm it is a 5,1,which was the first PowerBookG4 17-inch Apple soldto the public.Another thing I haven't seenbefore is the Power On Self-Test failed.Usually, it says passed.I don't know if it failedjust because it's a prototypeor maybe something else isactually wrong with the system.Hard drive wise, there's nothingreally noteworthy on here.There's a couple third-partyapplications like DiskWarrior.And there is a Developer folderin the root of the hard drive,but there's nothing in thereexcept for the Extras folder.There is the Mac OS 9 Applications folderand the Mac OS 9 System folder.So the classic environment is installed.You can run Mac OS 9apps inside of OS X here.So yeah, I'm not too surprisedthat there's no crazyspecial software on here.But if you do wanna get your fix,go ahead and check out my iMac episode.There's some cool internal softwareand documentation on that hard drive.And also, my buddy, Greg,loaned me his iBook G3prototype a while ago,and there was some coolinternal stuff on there as well.So definitely checkout those two episodes.They were a lot of fun,and I have the links in the description.So I think it's really coolto see these prototypes.It's kind of a time capsule,showing you how Apple wasdeveloping certain productsand what they were thinking at the timebecause it kind of justhumanizes the productsand reminds us, \"Hey,there's actual real peoplewith real lives that work on this stuff,and that's their job.\"And I just think that'sreally cool to see.So again, special thanks to DongleBookProfor loaning me this unit.And feel free to check out his channel.I have a link down in the description.If you wanna see somemore cool prototype stuff,he's the guy to go to.And feel free to subscribefor more tech episodescoming out every week.I love making episodesabout rare and retro tech,new tech, and of course scam tech.And hey, if you liked this episode,you know what to do.Thanks, and I'll see you next time.Catch the crazy and pass it on.(upbeat music)(bell chimes loudly)\n"