The Original (1st Generation) iPod Introduced: Oct. 2001

Released: Nov. 2001​

Discontinued: July 2002 The 1st generation iPod can be identified by its scroll wheel, surrounded by four buttons (clockwise from the top: menu, forward, play/pause, backward), and its center button for selecting items. When it was introduced, the iPod was a Mac-only product. It required Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X 10.1. While it was not the first MP3 player, the original iPod was both smaller and easier to use than many of its competitors. As a result, it quickly attracted accolades and strong sales. The iTunes Store wasn't introduced until 2003, so users had to add music to their iPods from CDs or other online sources. At the time of its introduction, Apple wasn't the powerhouse company it later became. The initial success of the iPod, and its successor products, were major factors in the company's explosive growth. Capacity

5 GB (about 1,000 songs)

10 GB (about 2,000 songs) - released in March 2002

Mechanical hard drive used for storage Supported Audio Formats

MP3​

WAV

AIFF Colors

White Screen

160 x 128 pixels

2 inch

Grayscale Connectors

FireWire Battery Life

10 hours Dimensions

4.02 x 2.43 x 0.78 inches Weight

6.5 ounces Original Price

US$399 - 5 GB

$499 - 10 GB Requirements

Mac: Mac OS 9 or higher; iTunes 2 or higher

The Second Generation iPod Apple Inc. Released: July 2002

Discontinued: April 2003 The 2nd Generation iPod debuted less than a year after the original model's great success. The second generation model added a number of new features: Windows support, increased storage capacity, and a touch-sensitive wheel, as opposed to the mechanical wheel that the original iPod had used. While the body of the device was largely the same as the first generation model, the front of the second generation sported rounded corners. At the time of its introduction, the iTunes Store still had not been introduced (it would appear in 2003). The second generation iPod also came in four limited-edition models, featuring the signatures of Madonna, Tony Hawk, or Beck, or the logo of the band No Doubt, engraved on the back of the device for an additional $50. Capacity

5 GB (about 1,000 songs)

10 GB (about 2,000 songs)

20 GB (about 4,000 songs)

Mechanical hard drive used for storage Supported Audio Formats

MP3

WAV

AIFF

Audible audiobooks (Mac only) Colors

White Screen

160 x 128 pixels

2 inch​

Grayscale Connectors

FireWire Battery Life

10 hours Dimensions

4 x 2.4 x 0.78 inches - 5 GB Model

4 x 2.4 x 0.72 inches - 10 GB Model

4 x 2.4 x 0.84 inches - 20 GB Model Weight

6.5 ounces - 5 GB and 10 GB models

7.2 ounces - 20 GB model Original Price

$299 - 5 GB

$399 - 10 GB

$499 - 20 GB Requirements

Mac: Mac OS 9.2.2 or Mac OS X 10.1.4 or higher; iTunes 2 (for OS 9) or 3 (for OS X)

Windows: Windows ME, 2000, or XP; MusicMatch Jukebox Plus

The Third Generation iPod Łukasz Ryba / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 Released: April 2003

Discontinued: July 2004 This iPod model marked a break in design from the previous models. The third-generation iPod introduced a new body style for the device, which was thinner and had more-rounded corners. It also introduced the touch wheel, which was a touch-sensitive means of scrolling through content on the device. The forward/backward, play/pause, and menu buttons were removed from around the wheel and placed in a row between the touch wheel and screen. In addition, the 3rd gen. iPod introduced the Dock Connector port on the bottom, which became the standard means of connecting most future iPods models (except the Shuffle) to computers and compatible accessories. The iTunes Store was introduced at the same time as this model. A Windows-compatible version of iTunes was introduced in Oct. 2003, five months after the third-generation iPod debuted. Windows users were required to reformat the iPod for Windows before they could use it. Capacity

10 GB (about 2,500 songs)

15 GB (about 3,700 songs)

20 GB (about 5,000 songs) - replaced 15GB model in Sept. 2003

30 GB (about 7,500 songs)

40 GB (about 10,000 songs) - replaced 30GB model in Sept. 2003

Mechanical hard drive used for storage Supported Audio Formats

AAC (Mac only)

MP3

WAV

AIFF Colors

White Screen

160 x 128 pixels

2 inch

Grayscale Connectors

Dock Connector

Optional FireWire-to-USB adapter Battery Life

8 hours Dimensions

4.1 x 2.4 x 0.62 inches - 10, 15, 20 GB Models

4.1 x 2.4 x 0.73 inches - 30 and 40 GB models Weight

5.6 ounces - 10, 15, 20 GB models

6.2 ounces - 30 and 40 GB models Original Price

$299 - 10 GB

$399 - 15 GB & 20 GB

$499 - 30 GB & 40 GB Requirements

Mac: Mac OS X 10.1.5 or higher; iTunes

Windows: Windows ME, 2000, or XP; MusicMatch Jukebox Plus 7.5; later iTunes 4.1

The Fourth Generation iPod (a.k.a. iPod Photo) AquaStreak Rugby471 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 Released: July 2004

Discontinued: October 2005 The 4th Generation iPod was another complete redesign and included a handful of spin-off iPod products that were eventually merged into the 4th Generation iPod line. This model iPod brought the Clickwheel, which was introduced on the original iPod mini, to the main iPod line. The Clickwheel was both touch-sensitive for scrolling and had buttons built in that allowed the user to click the wheel to select menu, forward/backward, and play/pause. The center button was still used to select onscreen items. This model also featured two special editions: a 30 GB U2 edition that included the band's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb album pre-loaded on the iPod, engraved signatures from the band, and a coupon to purchase the band's entire catalog from iTunes (Oct. 2004); a Harry Potter edition that included that Hogwarts logo engraved on the iPod and all 6 then-available Potter books pre-loaded as audiobooks (Sept. 2005). Also debuting around this time was the iPod Photo, a version of the 4th generation iPod that included a color screen and the ability to display photos. The iPod Photo line was merged into the original line in fall 2005. Capacity

20 GB (about 5,000 songs) - Clickwheel model only

30 GB (about 7,500 songs) - Clickwheel model only

40 GB (about 10,000 songs)

60 GB (about 15,000 songs) - iPod Photo model only

Mechanical hard drive used for storage Supported Formats

Music: AAC

MP3

WAV

AIFF

Apple Lossless

Audible audiobooks Photos (iPod Photo only): JPEG

BMP

GIF

TIFF

PSD

PNG Colors

White

Red and Black (U2 special edition) Screen

Clickwheel models: 160 x 128 pixels; 2 inch; Grayscale

iPod Photo: 220 x 176 pixels; 2 inch; 65,536 colors Connectors

Dock Connector Battery Life

Clickwheel: 12 hours

iPod Photo: 15 hours Dimensions

4.1 x 2.4 x 0.57 inches - 20 & 30 GB Clickwheel Models

4.1 x 2.4 x 0.69 inches - 40 GB Clickwheel Model

4.1 x 2.4 x 0.74 inches - iPod Photo Models Weight

5.6 ounces - 20 & 30 GB Clickwheel models

6.2 ounces - 40 GB Clickwheel model

6.4 ounces - iPod Photo model Original Price

$299 - 20 GB Clickwheel

$349 - 30 GB U2 Edition

$399 - 40 GB Clickwheel

$499 - 40 GB iPod Photo

$599 - 60 GB iPod Photo ($440 in Feb. 2005; $399 in June 2005) Requirements

Mac: Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher; iTunes

Windows: Windows 2000 or XP; iTunes Also Known As: iPod Photo, iPod with Color Display, Clickwheel iPod

The Hewlett-Packard iPod keegan / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0 Released: January 2004

Discontinued: July 2005 Apple is known for not being interested in licensing its technology. For instance, it was one of the only major computer companies never to have licensed its hardware or software to "clone" computer makers who created compatible and competing Macs. (Well, almost; That changed briefly in the 1990s, but as soon as Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he ended that practice.) Because of this, you might expect that Apple would not have been interested in licensing the iPod or allowing anyone else to sell a version of it. But that’s not the case. Perhaps because the company had learned from its failure to license the Mac OS (some observers think that Apple would have a much larger computer market share in the '80s and '90s if it had done so) or perhaps because it wanted to expand possible sales, Apple licensed the iPod to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2004. On January 8, 2004, HP announced that it would begin selling its own version of the iPod—basically, it was a standard iPod with the HP logo on it. It sold this iPod for a while and even launched a TV advertising campaign for it. At one time, HP’s iPod accounted for 5% of total iPod sales. Less than 18 months later, though, HP announced it would no longer sell its HP-branded iPod, citing Apple’s difficult terms (something many telecoms complained about when Apple was shopping for a deal for the original iPhone). After that, no other company ever licensed the iPod (or really any hardware or software from Apple). Models sold: 20GB and 40GB 4th Generation iPods; iPod mini; iPod Photo; iPod Shuffle

The Fifth Generation iPod (a.k.a. iPod Video) Apple Inc. Released: Oct. 2005

Discontinued: Sept. 2007 The 5th Generation iPod improved on the iPod Photo by adding the ability to play videos on its 2.5-inch color screen. It came in two colors, sported a smaller Clickwheel, and had a flat face, instead of the rounded ones used on previous models. The initial models were 30 GB and 60 GB, with an 80 GB model replacing the 60 GB in 2006. A 30 GB U2 Special Edition was also available at launch. By this point, videos were available at the iTunes Store for use with the iPod Video. Capacity

30 GB (about 7,500 songs)

60 GB (about 15,000 songs)

80 GB (about 20,000 songs)

Mechanical hard drive used for storage Supported Formats

Music: AAC

MP3

WAV

AIFF

Apple Lossless

Audible audiobooks Photos: JPEG

BMP

GIF

TIFF

PSD

PNG Video: H.264

MPEG-4 Colors

White

Black Screen

320 x 240 pixels

2.5 inch

65,000 Colors Connectors

Dock Connector Battery Life

14 hours - 30 GB Model

20 hours - 60 & 80 GB Models Dimensions

4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 inches - 30 GB Model

4.1 x 2.4 x 0.55 inches - 60 & 80 GB Models Weight

4.8 ounces - 30 GB Model

5.5 ounces - 60 & 80 GB Models Original Price

$299 ($249 in Sept. 2006) - 30 GB Model

$349​ - Special Edition U2 30 GB model

$399 - 60 GB Model

$349 - 80 GB Model; introduced Sept. 2006 Requirements

Mac: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher; iTunes

Windows: 2000 or XP; iTunes Also Known As: iPod with Video, iPod Video