Question about Macbook Hardrive

SteelblueTJ · SteelblueTJ #1 (**permalink**)

09-18-2011, 11:02 PM

I have a late 2005 15" Aluminum Powerbook G4, 1.67ghz, 2gb ram and the 7200 rpm hard drive. The computer is blazing fast and still running 10.4 Tiger. I never bothered upgrading to leopard since that's as far as it will go anyway since snow leopard isn't supported on PowerPC's. I have been looking at some used MacBooks on eBay. Mainly around 2008-09 models with 2.4ghz Intel core 2 duo, and I believe they all now have 5400rpm drives. Will I notice much of a difference in "downgrading" to a 5400 drive in a used macbook with 4gb of ram? Why doesn't Apple still offer the 7200 rpm drive like they did back in the Powerbook days?

chscag · chscag #2 (**permalink**)

09-18-2011, 11:34 PM

You won't notice much if any difference since a Core 2 Duo MacBook with 4GB of memory is going to be faster than your Powerbook.

I believe the reason Apple didn't offer the 7200 RPM drives until lately is because of the louder noise, heat, and additional battery energy required. I don't know why it was an option for your Powerbook.

I put a WD 7200 RPM drive in my 2008 MB Core 2 Duo and as far as I can tell it made no difference whatsoever for heat, noise, and battery life.

chscag #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 23, 2008 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 32,387 Mac Specs: 21.5" iMac 2.5 GHz i5, iPad 3rd Gen., 3 iPods	09-18-2011, 11:34 PM You won't notice much if any difference since a Core 2 Duo MacBook with 4GB of memory is going to be faster than your Powerbook. I believe the reason Apple didn't offer the 7200 RPM drives until lately is because of the louder noise, heat, and additional battery energy required. I don't know why it was an option for your Powerbook. I put a WD 7200 RPM drive in my 2008 MB Core 2 Duo and as far as I can tell it made no difference whatsoever for heat, noise, and battery life. Community Guidelines
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SteelblueTJ #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 24, 2011 Posts: 40	09-18-2011, 11:02 PM I have a late 2005 15" Aluminum Powerbook G4, 1.67ghz, 2gb ram and the 7200 rpm hard drive. The computer is blazing fast and still running 10.4 Tiger. I never bothered upgrading to leopard since that's as far as it will go anyway since snow leopard isn't supported on PowerPC's. I have been looking at some used MacBooks on eBay. Mainly around 2008-09 models with 2.4ghz Intel core 2 duo, and I believe they all now have 5400rpm drives. Will I notice much of a difference in "downgrading" to a 5400 drive in a used macbook with 4gb of ram? Why doesn't Apple still offer the 7200 rpm drive like they did back in the Powerbook days?
	QUOTE Thanks

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