personal computer by Apple

Stunningly compact, the Power Mac (not Macintosh) G4 Cube came as a surprise, despite numerable contradictory rumors. Just 7.7″ square and a bit under 10″ tall – about the same height at the 2013 Mac Pro , but with a larger footprint – the Cube does everything the iMac DV does (except contain a monitor) – but with the same 450 MHz G4 processor as the Sawtooth Power Macintosh G4 .

Like the iMac, the Cube is a quiet fanless machine cooled by convection. The hard drive, ports, and AirPort antenna are all built into the Cube, but the power supply and twin Harman Kardon spherical speakers are external. The Cube supports both digital and VGA displays using the same ATI video subsystem as the Power Mac – and it’s on a 2x AGP slot, making it possible for serious gamers to replace the video card with something even better.

Best of all, the Cube shipped with Apple’s incredible optical mouse, where the entire mouse acts as a button, and the 108-key keyboard, eliminating the need to immediately buy a better mouse and keyboard (which many iMac and G4 owners had been doing).

Specs (via Low End Mac)

• Cpu: single 450/500 MHz PPC 7400 (a.k.a. G4), in mid-April 2001 Apple switched the 500 MHz Cube  to the cooler running 7410
• Bus: 100 MHz
• Performance: Geekbench 2 (Leopard): 257 (450 MHz) Geekbench 2 (Tiger): 282 (450 MHz), 325 (500 MHz) Speedmark: 139
• Ram: 64 MB standard, expandable to 1.5 GB using PC100 SDRAM (3.3V,unbuffered, 64-bit, 168-pin, 100 MHz) in 3 DIMM slots
• L2 Cache: 1 MB 2:1 backside cache
• Hard Drive: 20 GB 5400 rpm Ultra ATA/66 with 30, 40, and 60 GB options. Maximum IDE drive size is 128 GB without third-party support. See How big a hard drive can I put in my iMac, eMac, or Power Mac? for your options.
• Video: ATI Rage 128 Pro in AGP 2x slot (was Rage 128 prior to December 1999); supports resolutions to 1920 x 1200 with 32-bit support, VGA and ADC connectors, and digital video output
• Vram: 16 MB
• Upgrade Path: processor upgrades
• Pram Battery: 3.6V half-AA
• Weight: 14.0 lb. (6.6 kg)
• Model Identifier: PowerMac5,1
• Latest Firmware: Power Mac G4 Cube Firmware Update 4.1.9 (bad link)
• Speedmark: 139
• See: Online resources and links for the Power Mac G4 Cube