Power Mac G4
‘Mirrored Drive Doors (MDD)’
History
Introduced: August 13, 2002
Discontinued: June 9, 2004
Original Retail Price: $1,299 (MDD ‘03 model)
Model #: M8570
Tech Specs
Processor: 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4
RAM: 1 GB (upgraded)
Hard Drive: 2 x 120 GB (RAID)
Optical Drive: Combo (DVD-R / CD-RW)
OS: 10.2.3
Condition & Notes
This unit is in excellent condition. It’s complete with the original packaging, foam bag, power cable, keyboard, mouse, modem cable, VGA-to-DVI adapter, software CDs, and documentation.
This particular machine is the ‘Mirrored Drive Doors (MDD) 2003’ model, released in June ‘03 alongside the first Power Mac G5s, since there were many users who still needed to boot Mac OS 9. It is notable for being the latest machine ever made by Apple that could do so. It also sold at a much lower price of $1,299, compared to $1,999 for a G5 at the time.
I completely disassembled both the tower and the keyboard for cleaning when I acquired the unit. I also performed a “retrobrite” treatment on the keyboard to restore its original white color. See the photos at the bottom of this page for more on this.
It is in fully working order and is currently running Mac OS X 10.2.3.
Packaging
The CD packet resides in a recessed slot under where the documentation sits.
The original Apple foam bag.
Main Tower
Accessories
Apple Pro Keyboard and Pro Mouse, power cable, modem cable, DVI-to-VGA adapter, software CDs, and documentation.
Setup guide, warranty info, software license agreement, AppleCare brochure, software coupons, Apple stickers, and CDs: Software Restore for OS 9 (4), Software Install & Restore for Mac OS X (1), and Apple Hardware Test (2).
With Displays
With 17” Studio Display
With 20” Cinema Display
With 23” Cinema HD Display
System Specs
Teardown & Cleaning Photos
A little dusty ...
The bare MDD chassis.
Power supply disassembly & cleaning.
Keyboard Teardown, Cleaning, & Retrobrite
This is what the keyboard looked like when I acquired it. All the keys, as well as the backing plate, had turned a nasty shade of yellow. This is most likely due to age and/or exposure to UV light.
Retrobrite in action. I used the submersion method on this one. I won’t get into the details of how this works, but there are many resources and videos online if you’re curious.
A process known as “retrobrite” can be used to reverse yellowing in plastics like this. It requires complete disassembly of the item so that the yellowed pieces can be treated in liquid.
Reassembly of the keyboard after retrobriting. These keyboards are quite complex and time-consuming to disassemble. This model has 109 keys in total.
The “After” photo! A successful retrobrite treatment - it is now the correct white color.
