To sweeten the vintage weekend, I just wanted to share a couple of iPod-related things. The first one is the video Apple made available on its site in October 2001 when the original iPod was introduced. I found it in one of my backups, possibly lying there for the past 13 years. It’s not hard to get hold of it if you look around on the Web (I’m sure YouTube is your friend), but I’d like to offer a direct link here for documentary reasons: iPod introduction video.
I must say, of all the Apple videos featuring Jonathan Ive, this is the one where Ive looks the most excited and possibly smiles the most. You’ll also notice someone who later left Apple to work with Palm…
As for the second thing, I thought I could assemble a useful table listing which iPod models can be managed by PowerPC Macs running Mac OS 9.x to Mac OS X 10.5.8 and which system software and iTunes version are required. I still don’t understand why more modern iPods — such as the 7th-gen. iPod nano or the 5th-gen. iPod touch and later — support Windows software as old as XP but require Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (and an Intel Mac, of course).
In case you acquire an old iPod model, in this table you can easily see your Mac/PC’s minimum requirements to be able to manage it.
| System requirements (Mac OS, Windows, iTunes version) | iPod models |
| Mac OS 9.2 or later Mac OS X 10.1 or later iTunes 2.0 or later |
Original iPod (iPod with scroll wheel) |
| Mac OS 9.2.2 / Mac OS X 10.1.4 or later (Mac OS X 10.2 or later recommended) Windows Me, 2000, XP (Home or Professional) iTunes 3.0 or later |
iPod with touch wheel (2nd-gen. iPod) |
| Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later (Mac OS X 10.2 or later recommended) Windows Me, 2000, XP (Home or Professional) iTunes 4.0 or later |
iPod (Dock Connector) (3rd-gen. iPod) |
| Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later (Mac OS X 10.3 or later recommended) Windows 2000 (SP 4), XP (Home or Professional) iTunes 4.2 or later |
iPod mini |
| Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later (Mac OS X 10.3 or later recommended) USB 2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.3.4 or Windows 2000 (SP 4) or Windows XP Home or Professional iTunes 4.6 or later |
iPod (Click wheel) (4th-gen. iPod) iPod U2 Special Edition |
| Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later (for FireWire)
USB 2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later or Windows 2000 (SP 4) or later or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 4.7 or later |
iPod photo iPod colour display iPod U2 Special Edition (colour display) |
| Mac OS X 10.2.8 or Mac OS X 10.3.4 and later (Mac OS X 10.3.6 or later recommended for use with low-power USB ports) Windows 2000 (SP 4) or later, or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 4.7.1 or later |
iPod shuffle (1st gen.) |
| Mac OS X 10.2.8 or Mac OS X 10.3.4 and later (Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later recommended) USB 2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later or Windows 2000 (SP 4) or later or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 4.7.1 |
iPod mini (2nd gen.) |
| Mac OS X 10.3.4 and later Windows 2000 (SP 4) or later, or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 5.0 or later |
iPod nano (1st gen.) |
| Mac OS X 10.3.9 and later Windows 2000 (SP 4) or later, or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 6.0 or later |
5th-gen. iPod |
| Mac OS X 10.3.9 and later Windows 2000 (SP 4) or later, or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 7.0 or later |
5th-gen. iPod (U2 Special Edition) 5th-gen. iPod (late 2006) 5th-gen. iPod (U2 Special Edition – late 2006) iPod nano (2nd gen.) |
| Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 7.0 or later (2006) |
iPod shuffle (2nd gen.) |
| Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 7.4 or later |
iPod nano (3rd gen.) iPod classic |
| Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 7.4 or later |
iPod touch (1st gen.) |
| Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 2) or later iTunes 8.0 or later |
iPod touch (2nd gen.) |
| Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 3) iTunes 8.0 or later |
iPod nano (4th gen.) iPod classic (120 GB) iPod shuffle (3rd gen.) |
| Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (SP 3) or later iTunes 9.0 or later |
iPod shuffle (3rd gen. late 2009) iPod nano (5th gen.) iPod classic (160 GB – late 2009) iPod touch (3rd gen.) |
| Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later Windows 7, Vista, or XP Home or Professional (SP 3) or later iTunes 10 or later |
iPod nano (6th gen.) iPod touch (4th gen.) |
(Data collected using Mactracker.)
Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Software, System Tagged: Computer history
