IPod Classic
The iPod Classic is a discontinued portable media player created and formerly marketed by Apple.
There were six generations of the iPod Classic, as well as a spin-off that was later re-integrated into the main iPod line. All generations used a hard drive for storage. The "classic" suffix was formally introduced with the rollout of the sixth-generation iPod on September 5, 2007. Prior generations of the device had simply been marketed as the "iPod". It was available in silver or black from 2007 onwards, replacing the "signature iPod white".
On September 9, 2014, Apple discontinued the iPod Classic. The sixth-generation 160 GB iPod Classic was the last Apple product to use the original 30-pin dock connector and the distinctive click wheel.
Technical information
User interface
iPods with color displays use anti-aliased graphics and text, with sliding animations. All iPods have five buttons and the later generations have the buttons integrated into the click wheel — a design which gives an uncluttered, minimalist interface, though the circuitry contains multiple momentary button switches. The buttons are:- Menu: to traverse backward through the menus, toggle the backlight on older iPods, and jump to the main menu on newer iPods
- Center: to select a menu item
- Play / Pause: this doubles as an off switch when held
- Skip Forward / Fast Forward
- ''Skip Backwards / Rewind''
Operating system and firmware
Additional features
In March 2002, Apple added limited PDA-like functionality: text files can be displayed, while contacts and schedules can be viewed and synchronized with the host computer.Some built-in games are available, including Brick, Parachute, Solitaire, and iPod Quiz. A firmware update released in September 2006 brought some extra features to fifth-generation iPods including adjustable screen brightness, gapless playback, and downloadable games. However, as of September 30, 2011, these games are no longer available on the iTunes Store.
History
1st generation
Apple introduced the first-generation iPod on October 23, 2001, with the slogan "1,000 songs in your pocket". They went on sale on November 10, 2001. The first iPod had a monochrome LCD screen and featured a 5 GB hard drive capable of storing 1,000 songs and was priced at. Among the iPod's innovations were its small size, achieved using a 1.8" hard drive, whereas other HDD-based competitors were using 2.5" hard drives at the time, and its easy-to-use navigation, which was controlled using a mechanical scroll wheel, a center select button, and four auxiliary buttons around the wheel. The iPod had a rated battery life of ten hours.On March 20, 2002, Apple introduced a 10 GB model of the first-generation iPod for. VCard compatibility was added, allowing iPods to display business card information synced from a Mac.
2nd generation
The second-generation of the iPod was introduced on July 17, 2002. They went on sale in August 2002. Using a similar body style as the first generation, the top of the iPod was redesigned, switching from a single swooping cutout in the backplate to mount the FireWire port, hold switch and headphone assembly, to individual ports being cut into the backplate to allow these ports to be accessed. Furthermore, the hold switch was redesigned, a cover was added to the FireWire port, and the mechanical wheel was replaced with a touch-sensitive wheel. The second-generation class was available in 10GB for and 20 GB for. The first-generation 5GB iPod was carried over, but its price was reduced to.Notably, the second-generation iPods and the updated first-generation iPod were now Windows-compatible. These versions came with a 4-pin to 6-pin FireWire adapter and were bundled with Musicmatch Jukebox. At that time iTunes was Mac only and unavailable for Windows.
In December 2002, Apple unveiled its first limited edition iPods, with either Madonna's, Tony Hawk's, or Beck's signature or No Doubt's band logo engraved on the back for an extra.
3rd generation
On April 28, 2003, Apple announced a completely redesigned third-generation iPod. They went on sale on May 2, 2003. Thinner than the previous models, the third-generation models replaced the FireWire port with a new proprietary 30-pin Dock Connector and introduced the Touch Wheel, a completely non-mechanical interface with the four auxiliary buttons located in a row between the screen and the touch wheel. The front plate had rounded edges, and the rear casing was slightly rounded as well. A new wired remote connector was introduced. Whereas first and second-generation iPods had an auxiliary ring around the headphone port for the remote, the third-generation iPods had a 4-pin jack adjacent to the headphone port. A 10 GB model was sold for, a 15 GB model for, and a 30 GB model for. All iPods were now compatible with Mac and Windows out of the box, simply requiring Windows users to reformat the iPod before use on a PC and both iTunes and Musicmatch Jukebox were bundled with all iPods. The battery life was reduced to 8 hours, partially due to the use of a smaller lithium-ion battery as opposed to a lithium polymer battery.The 15 GB model was replaced by a 20 GB model and the 30 GB model was upgraded to 40 GB on September 8, 2003. The Windows-based Musicmatch Jukebox software was made obsolete and replaced by iTunes 4.1, the first version available for Microsoft Windows.
4th generation
Announced on July 19, 2004, the fourth-generation iPod replaced the touch wheel from the third-generation iPod with the Click Wheel from the iPod Mini, putting the four auxiliary buttons underneath a touch-sensitive scroll wheel. The casing was also slightly slimmer. Pricing was reduced and the lineup was simplified, as the 20 GB model was sold for and the 40 GB model for. Notably, Apple began reducing pack-in accessories starting with the fourth generation. While a dock, carrying case, and wired remote were previously included with higher-end iPods, the higher-level 40 GB iPod only came with a dock, earphones and an interchangeable proprietary cable capable of USB and FireWire interface. In addition to using the iPod Mini's Click Wheel, the fourth-generation iPod used the more energy-efficient components of the Mini, allowing the fourth-generation iPod to over 12 hours of battery life while using the same battery as its predecessor.A special U2 edition was announced on October 26, 2004, to cross-market U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb album. The plastic front piece of the U2 edition iPod was black and the scroll wheel was red, to coincide with the color scheme of the U2 album. With 20 GB and the signatures of all four members of U2, the special edition iPod was priced at and also included a coupon for a collection of U2's entire back catalog. U2 iPod customers also received 30 minutes of exclusive U2 video downloadable from the iTunes Music Store.
A Special Harry Potter Edition was announced on September 7, 2005. It was released in conjunction with the Harry Potter audiobooks in iTunes. It had a Hogwarts logo engraved on the back, and all six Harry Potter audiobooks which were available at the time preloaded.
iPod Photo
On October 26, 2004, in addition to the U2 edition, Apple also unveiled the iPod Photo. Positioned as a premium version of the standard fourth-generation iPod, the iPod Photo featured a 220×176-pixel LCD capable of displaying up to 65,536 colors. The device can be attached to a television or other external display for slideshows, thanks to a bundled composite cable which fits in the headphone port ; it is also forwards compatible with then-future dock connector based composite and S-video accessories.Photos are stored in a proprietary database, which iTunes can generate from JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG file formats sourced from either a folder, from Apple's iPhoto on the Macintosh, Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0 or Photoshop Elements 3.0 on Windows. Battery life was rated 15 hours for music playback and 5 hours for slideshows with music. The iPod Photo was available in a 40GB version for and a 60GB version for.
On February 23, 2005, both 40 GB models were replaced with a slimmer and lower-priced 30GB photo model leaving only a 20 GB black-and-white iPod left. The price for the 60 GB model was dropped to with fewer bundled accessories, making the dock, FireWire cable, and television cable extra-cost options. On the same day, Apple announced the iPod Camera Connector which allowed instant transfer of images from a USB-compatible digital camera to the iPod Photo. The main difference between this and Belkin's Digital Camera Link was that Apple's unit supported instant image viewing on the iPod Photo after transfer without having to connect the iPod Photo to a computer first.