The original Apple Power Mac G4, code name Yikes!, was introduced at the Seybold conference in San Francisco on 31 August 1999, with 400 MHz, 450 MHz and 500 MHz configurations available. In October 1999, Apple was forced to postpone the 500 MHz due to poor yield of the 500 MHz chips. In response, Apple "speed dumped” the processor speed in each configuration by 50 MHz but caused some controversy by not decreasing the price of the machines.
 
Power Mac G4 GraphiteThe early 400 MHz (later 350 MHz) PCI-based version used a motherboard identical to the one used in Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White) computers (minus the ADB port), in a "graphite" colored case and with the new Motorola PowerPC 7400 (G4) CPU. The higher-speed models, code name Sawtooth, used a greatly modified motherboard design with AGP 2x graphics (replacing the 66 MHz PCI slot). In December 1999, the entire Power Mac G4 line was updated to the AGP motherboard.
 
Power Mac G4 Graphite with upgraded CPUThe machines featured DVD-ROM drives as standard. The 400 MHz and 450 MHz versions had 100 MB Zip drives as standard equipment, and as an option on the 350 MHz Sawtooth. This series had a 100 MHz system bus and four PC100 SDRAM slots for up to 2 GiB of RAM (1.5 GiB under Mac OS 9). The AGP Power Macs were the first to include an AirPort slot and DVI video port.

The 500 MHz version was reintroduced on 16 February 2000, accompanied by 400 MHz and 450 MHz models. DVD-RAM and Zip drives featured on these later 450 MHz and 500 MHz versions and were an option on the 400Mhz.

Apple's marketing name for all these early AGP models is Power Mac AGP Graphics. The code name Sawtooth was used internally before release and became the popular designation among enthusiasts.

Manufacturer: Apple
Date: 31st August 1999

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH4754. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.