A Visual History of the iPod Click Wheel (R.I.P.)

The click roulette wheel is dead!Long live the touch screen . While Apple has moved on to brighter , and screenier devices , the click bicycle remains one of our favorite remark methods of all time . Call us sentimental , but let ’s take a walk down storage lane .

https://gizmodo.com/apple-finally-killed-the-ipod-classic-rip-ipod-classic-1632613860

iPod First Generation

carry : October 23rd , 2001 .

This is the thing that started it all . The first iPod sport a mechanically skillful wheel that you actually spin with your finger . A move wheel ? How obscure ages . The four forcible buttons for play / break , frontward , back , and menu encircled the wheel . It had 5 GB of repositing , and a 10 GB model was later released . Some argue that this is the gadget that bestow Apple back from the brink .

Second Generation

suffer : July 17th , 2002 .

The wheel evolves ! The 2nd coevals of the iPod debuted the Touch Wheel , replacing the spinning wheel with capacitive applied science . The firewire port wine got a binding , the hold push button was redesigned , and you could get it in 10 G or 20 GB sizes .

Third Generation

carry : April 28th , 2003 .

Amongst the Gizmodo staff , this is the all - meter favorite iPod . I swear , I thought someone was going to pluck up when we were talking about it at the office , ever so wistfully . This was the first all - touch iPod . The four push button are incite away from the Touch Wheel , and are placed in a horizontal row above it . It had a squeamish glow to it , and it was the first to offer up dock connectors . uncommitted in 10 , 15 , 20 , 30 , and 40 GB sizes . You ’re painfully missed , compadre .

iPod Mini First Generation

brook : January 6th , 2004 .

What the what the hey ? A new form divisor ! The iPod Mini busted onto the scene not only with its low size and multiple colouring material , but it also was the first to rock the Click Wheel . The buttons and the bicycle were no longer separate . You could now force the upper , scummy , right , or left quadrants to produce a chink . Genius ! remember maybe there ’ll start using that on other models ? Hmmm … It was 4 GB only .

Fourth Generation

Born : July 19th , 2004 .

Hey whaddayaknow ! The iPod espouse the iPod Mini ’s Click Wheel , and so it would be for many twelvemonth to amount . Later , within the fourth contemporaries , the iPod Color and the iPod Photo would be thrown into the mix . You could get these bozo as handsome as 60 GB !

iPod Mini Second Generation

Born : February 22nd , 2005 .

The second and last generation of the Mini . You could get this one in more and bright color . The battery lasted longer , and you could get 4 GB or 6 G . It die young and was replaced by the Nano .

Nano First Generation

Born : September 7th , 2005 .

Smaller than the Mini , but with that same ( now standard ) Click Wheel , the Nano sway ostentation computer storage instead of a traditional toilsome drive , which made it more durable and improved its battery life . It managed to keep back the dock connective , too . You could only get them in measly 1 , 2 , or 4 GB sizes .

Fifth Generation

Born : October 12th , 2005 .

Still that same Click Wheel . Slimmer case , available in black or white , and in capacities up to a whopping 80 GB , which made it the first iPod I could actually fit my whole music compendium on ( at the clip ) .

Nano Second Generation

Born : September 12th , 2006 .

Nano nano . This lil ’ guy now had an anodized aluminium casing and came in six different colors . Available in sizes up to 8 GB now .

Nano Third Generation

Born : September 2007 .

Shorter and wider than its Nano predecessors , this one had a smaller Click Wheel but a bigger two - inch QVGA CRT screen which made it expert for watching videos . Y’know , comparatively . It number in a few new people of colour but still just in sizes up to 8 GB .

Nano Fourth Generation

Born : September 9th , 2008 .

The Nano went back to its long and lanky ways with a broad screen that made it advantageously for consider 16:9 telecasting . It was all aluminum , and it add an accelerometer which allow you to shake it to shuffle . Available in nine colors and in size up to 16 GB .

Nano Fifth Generation

hold : September 9th , 2009 .

This was the last version of the Nano to sport the Click Wheel before it turned to the more stylish and ubiquitous touchscreen . They went all out with this one , and it included a larger screen door , an FM radio set , a speaker , and a pedometer . Same - ish coloration as the fourth gen , and also available up to 16 gilbert .

Sixth Generation (The Classic)

Born : September 5th , 2007 .

This is when the original iPod agate line became what is to this day known as iPod Classic . It sported anodized aluminum , had an improved user interface , effective resoluteness for videos , and was available in size up to a staggering 160 GB ( still a standard toilsome drive , not ostentate ) . With its death , the Click Wheel goes with it , and it will almost certainly no longer be include on any young models .

You had a capital run , Clicky . Thanks for the practiced clock time . Vaya con dios . If it ’s an consolation , you ’ve been reincarnated as a node on theApple Watch .