Mac Systems > Apple > Power Macintosh G5 | Also see: Mac Pro
The Power Macintosh G5 shipped from 2003 until 2006. All models pack 64-bit PowerPC 970 (G5) processors in an easy-to-upgrade aluminum tower case design with a single external optical drive bay. Aluminum tower Macs with dual optical drive bays are Mac Pro models. Complete Power Macintosh G5 technical specs are below.
Sep 09, 2019 Voted for Mac OS, because as of now I haven't tried any alternative operating systems on PowerPC Macs. After getting through the hassle of trying Linux on my 2006 iMac, I'd like to make Tiger and Leopard as usable as possible. But a Linux installation is still in the long-term plan for my G5 Quad. Mac Systems Apple Power Macintosh G5 Also see: Mac Pro. The Power Macintosh G5 shipped from 2003 until 2006. All models pack 64-bit PowerPC 970 (G5) processors in an easy-to-upgrade aluminum tower case design with a single external optical drive bay. More specifically, OS X 10.5 Leopard is the last version of OS X that will run on G5 Macs, and it will run on almost all G4 Macs as well, although you will need to hack the installer to get it on a system slower than 867 MHz. That said, OS X Leopard requires a lot of power, so you’ll probably find Macs below 667 MHz sluggish regardless of other factors. Firmware for Late 2004 1.8 GHz G5s w/ 10.4.x. Recover lost data on your Mac, prevent accidental data loss, backup failing disks.
For answers to all your Power Mac G5 questions, see the Power Macintosh G5 Q&A.
Also see: Currently Shipping Macs & Ultimate Mac Comparison.
Click the triangle to the left of a system to open 'Quick Specs' -- identifiers and basic configuration details -- and click on the name or image for complete specifications. You also can lookup a Power Mac G5 by its serial number and other identifiers.
Asterisks indicate that important details are provided on the applicable specs page.
1Apple ComputerProcessorPower Macintosh G5 1.6 (PCI)1.6 GHz PowerPC 970 (G5)
| Intro. | June 23, 2003 | Disc. | June 9, 2004 |
| Order | M9020LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 1969) |
| Family | Power Mac G5 | ID | PowerMac7,2 |
| RAM | 256 MB | VRAM | 64 MB |
| Storage | 80 GB HDD | Optical | 4X 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 1.6 (PCI) Specs | |||
| Intro. | June 23, 2003 | Disc. | November 18, 2003 |
| Order | M9031LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 1969) |
| Family | Power Mac G5 | ID | PowerMac7,2 |
| RAM | 512 MB | VRAM | 64 MB |
| Storage | 160 GB HDD | Optical | 4X 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 1.8 (PCI-X) Specs | |||
| Intro. | June 23, 2003 | Disc. | June 9, 2004 |
| Order | M9032LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 1969) |
| Family | Power Mac G5 | ID | PowerMac7,2 |
| RAM | 512 MB | VRAM | 64 MB |
| Storage | 160 GB HDD | Optical | 4X 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 2.0 DP (PCI-X) Specs | |||
| Intro. | November 18, 2003 | Disc. | June 9, 2004 |
| Order | M9393LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 1969) |
| Family | Original/Late 2003 | ID | PowerMac7,2 |
| RAM | 512 MB | VRAM | 64 MB |
| Storage | 160 GB HDD | Optical | 4X 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 1.8 DP (PCI-X) Specs | |||
| Intro. | June 9, 2004 | Disc. | April 27, 2005 |
| Order | M9454LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 1969C) |
| Family | Mid-2004 | ID | PowerMac7,3 |
| RAM | 256 MB | VRAM | 64 MB |
| Storage | 80 GB HDD | Optical | 8X 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 1.8 DP (PCI) Specs | |||
| Intro. | June 9, 2004 | Disc. | April 27, 2005 |
| Order | M9455LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 1969C) |
| Family | Mid-2004 | ID | PowerMac7,3 |
| RAM | 512 MB | VRAM | 64 MB |
| Storage | 160 GB HDD | Optical | 8X 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 2.0 DP (PCI-X 2) Specs | |||
| Intro. | June 9, 2004 | Disc. | April 27, 2005 |
| Order | M9457LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 1969C) |
| Family | Mid-2004 | ID | PowerMac7,3 |
| RAM | 512 MB | VRAM | 128 MB |
| Storage | 160 GB HDD | Optical | 8X 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 2.5 DP (PCI-X) Specs | |||
| Intro. | October 19, 2004 | Disc. | June 13, 2005 |
| Order | M9555LL/A | Model | A1093 (EMC 2020) |
| Family | Late 2004 | ID | PowerMac9,1 |
| RAM | 256 MB | VRAM | 64 MB |
| Storage | 80 GB HDD | Optical | 8X 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 1.8 (PCI) Specs | |||
| Intro. | April 27, 2005 | Disc. | October 19, 2005 |
| Order | M9747LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 2061) |
| Family | Early 2005 | ID | PowerMac7,3 |
| RAM | 512 MB | VRAM | 128 MB |
| Storage | 160 GB HDD | Optical | 4X DL 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 2.0 DP (PCI) Specs | |||
| Intro. | April 27, 2005 | Disc. | October 19, 2005 |
| Order | M9748LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 2061) |
| Family | Early 2005 | ID | PowerMac7,3 |
| RAM | 512 MB | VRAM | 128 MB |
| Storage | 250 GB HDD | Optical | 4X DL 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 2.3 DP (PCI-X) Specs | |||
| Intro. | April 27, 2005 | Disc. | October 19, 2005 |
| Order | M9749LL/A | Model | A1047 (EMC 2061) |
| Family | Early 2005 | ID | PowerMac7,3 |
| RAM | 512 MB | VRAM | 256 MB |
| Storage | 250 GB HDD | Optical | 4X DL 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 2.7 DP (PCI-X) Specs | |||
| Intro. | October 19, 2005 | Disc. | August 7, 2006 |
| Order | M9590LL/A | Model | A1117/A1177* (EMC 2023) |
| Family | Late 2005 | ID | PowerMac11,2 |
| RAM | 512 MB, 1 GB | VRAM | 128 MB |
| Storage | 160 GB HDD | Optical | 6X DL 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 Dual Core (2.0) Specs | |||
| Intro. | October 19, 2005 | Disc. | August 7, 2006 |
| Order | M9591LL/A | Model | A1117/A1177* (EMC 2023) |
| Family | Late 2005 | ID | PowerMac11,2 |
| RAM | 512 MB, 1 GB | VRAM | 256 MB |
| Storage | 250 GB HDD | Optical | 6X DL 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 Dual Core (2.3) Specs | |||
| Intro. | October 19, 2005 | Disc. | August 7, 2006* |
| Order | M9592LL/A | Model | A1117/A1177* (EMC 2023) |
| Family | Late 2005 | ID | PowerMac11,2 |
| RAM | 512 MB, 1 GB | VRAM | 256 MB |
| Storage | 250 GB HDD | Optical | 6X DL 'SuperDrive' |
| Complete Power Macintosh G5 'Quad Core' (2.5) Specs | |||
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Put simply, you can’t. With the introduction of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in August 2009, Apple removed all support for PowerPC Macs from its operating system. You cannot run OS X 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9, or 10.10 on G5 Macs or anything earlier. They will only run on Intel x86 hardware.
More specifically, OS X 10.5 Leopard is the last version of OS X that will run on G5 Macs, and it will run on almost all G4 Macs as well, although you will need to hack the installer to get it on a system slower than 867 MHz. That said, OS X Leopard requires a lot of power, so you’ll probably find Macs below 667 MHz sluggish regardless of other factors. You’ll also want at least 1 GB of RAM for decent performance, a twice that to really unleash things.
For lower powered G4 Macs and the vast majority of G3 Macs, OS X 10.4 Tiger is your best bet. It is not as resource intensive and will perform decently with as little as 512 MB of RAM. It will seem sluggish on G3 Macs below about 500 MHz and performance on a 400 MHz G4 is about the cut-off there.
Powermac G5 Operating System
Although there are still some apps being developed for PowerPC Macs running OS X 10.4 and 10.5 (most notably the TenFourFox browser), there is very little up-to-date software. Security updates for each of these versions of OS X was ended years ago, so even though there has been very little Mac malware since the introduction of OS X, these are not as secure on the Web as more recent versions of OS X.
The best alternative for those who wish to use their PowerPC Macs and have an up-to-date operating system is a PPC port of Linux. See DistroWatch and PenguinPPC for information on current Linux distributions for PowerPC Macs.
Or you could consider selling your old Mac and migrating to an Intel-based model that supports OS X 10.10 Yosemite and probably remain up-to-date until Fall 2015, at which point OS X 10.11 could leave you behind.
Keywords: #lemfaq #lowendmacfaq
Short link: http://goo.gl/zr7czM
Power Mac G5 Operating System
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