Apple iPod Classic 3rd Gen

iPod Classic 3rd Gen

Product Brand: Apple

Editor's Rating:
3.5

Pros

• Large storage capacity (up to 40 GB)
• Clear and bright colour display
• Long battery life
• Sleek and durable design
• Easy to navigate menus

Cons

• No video playback capability
• Limited support for newer software and technologies
• No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity
• No built-in FM radio
• Heavy and bulky compared to newer devices

Apple iPod Classic 3rd Gen Review and Features

Apple iPod Classic 3rd Gen also known as iPod with a dock connector was announced on April 29, 2003, by Apple as a completely redesigned third-generation iPod. 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 four buttons are now backlit and are located in a row above the touch wheel (the previous models had buttons placed around the wheel). Software improvements include games, an alarm clock, the possibility to record voice and updated customization options.

The front plate had rounded edges, and the rear casing was slightly rounded. 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.

The 10 GB model was sold for US$299, the 15 GB model for US$399, and the 30 GB model for US$499. All iPods were now compatible with Mac and Windows out of the box, requiring Windows users to reformat the iPod before use on a PC.

Both iTunes and Musicmatch Jukebox were bundled with all iPods. On the other hand, battery life has been estimated at eight hours, two hours less than the iPod classic 1st and the iPod classic 2nd generations. This was partially due to a smaller lithium-ion battery than a lithium polymer battery.

A 20 GB model replaced the 15 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 of Microsoft Windows.

The iPod Classic (stylized and marketed as iPod classic and formerly iPod Video or just iPod) is a discontinued portable media player created and formerly marketed by Apple Inc.

Six generations of the iPod Classic and a spin-off (the iPod Photo) were later re-integrated into the main iPod line. All generations used a 1.8-inch (46 mm) hard drive for storage. The “classic” suffix was formally introduced with the rollout of the sixth-generation iPod on September 5, 2007.

Before this, all iPod Classic models were simply referred to as iPods; the first iPod released in 2001 was part of this line called “Classic”. 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.

The iPod’s operating system is stored on its dedicated storage medium. An additional NOR flash ROM chip (either 1 MB or 512 KB) contains a bootloader program that tells the device to load its OS from the storage medium.

Each iPod has 32 MB of RAM, although the 60 GB and 80 GB fifth-generation and sixth-generation models have 64 MB. A portion of the RAM is used to hold the iPod OS loaded from firmware, but most of it serves to cache songs from the storage medium.

For example, an iPod could spin its hard disk up once and copy approximately 30 MB of upcoming songs into RAM, thus saving power by not requiring the drive to spin up for each song.

Custom firmware has also been developed, such as Rockbox (up to 1G – 6G requires emCORE) and iPodLinux (up to 5G, 6G has an encrypted firmware.), which offer open-source alternatives to the standard firmware and operating system.

Full Technical Specifications