Apple Sunset

iPod (4th generation, Click Wheel)

Discontinued 28 Jun 2005

Released

19 Jul 2004

Announced

19 Jul 2004

Launch price from

$299

Discontinued

28 Jun 2005

Lifespan

11 months

Category
iPod
Status
Discontinued
Apple support status
Obsolete (Apple no longer services it)
Release type
Refresh of an existing model
Previous model
iPod (3rd generation, Dock Connector)
Replaced by
iPod (5th generation, with Video)
Official Apple page
No longer available on Apple’s website
Tech specs
Apple specs ↗
Press release
Apple Newsroom ↗
More information
iPod Classic on Wikipedia ↗

Notes

The iPod (4th generation, click wheel) cost $299 for 20GB and $399 for 40GB, doubling the storage at both prices compared with the year before. Apple described the wheel as patent-pending, combining a touch-sensitive scrolling surface with five push buttons underneath, four around the ring and one in the middle.

The click wheel had not been designed for this player. It was introduced on the iPod mini six months earlier, and Apple brought it up to the full-size iPod (4th generation, click wheel) afterwards, which put the buttons back onto the wheel after a year of sitting in a row above it.

Battery life went from eight hours to twelve. The screen stayed greyscale at two inches, and the player was thinner than the one it replaced.

Both a FireWire and a USB cable were now in the box, and the disc held iTunes 4.6 for Windows as well as the Mac, where the previous model had given Windows owners somebody else’s software. A dock came with the 40GB version only.

It was announced on 19 July 2004 in a press release. There were no pre-orders and no wait, since Apple put it on sale the same day, priced from $299.

The model it replaced was the iPod (3rd generation).

More in iPod

Release history

All iPod →

iPod release history

  1. 2014

  2. 9 Sept 2014

    iPod Classic 160GB (Late 2009) Discontinued

  3. ↑ about 5 years later
  4. 2009

  5. 9 Sept 2009

    iPod Classic 160GB (Late 2009) Released

    iPod Classic (120GB) Discontinued

  6. ↑ about 1 year later
  7. 2008

  8. 9 Sept 2008

    iPod Classic (120GB) Released

    iPod Classic Discontinued

  9. ↑ about 1 year later
  10. 2007

  11. 5 Sept 2007

    iPod Classic Released

    iPod (5th generation, Late 2006) Discontinued

    iPod U2 Special Edition Discontinued

  12. ↑ about 1 year later
  13. 2006

  14. 12 Sept 2006

    iPod (5th generation, Late 2006) Released

    iPod (5th generation, with Video) Discontinued

  15. ↑ about 1 year later
  16. 2005

  17. 12 Oct 2005

    iPod with Color Display Discontinued

  18. Oct 2005

    iPod (5th generation, with Video) Released

  19. ↑ 3 months later

  20. 28 Jun 2005

    iPod with Color Display Released

    iPod (4th generation, Click Wheel) Discontinued

    iPod Photo Discontinued

  21. ↑ 8 months later
  22. 2004

  23. Nov 2004

    iPod U2 Special Edition Released

  24. Oct 2004

    iPod Photo Released

  25. ↑ 2 months later

  26. 19 Jul 2004

    iPod (4th generation, Click Wheel) Released

    iPod (3rd generation, Dock Connector) Discontinued

  27. ↑ 1 year, 3 months later
  28. 2003

  29. 2 May 2003

    iPod (3rd generation, Dock Connector) Released

  30. 28 Apr 2003

    iPod (1st generation, Scroll Wheel) Discontinued

    iPod (2nd generation, Touch Wheel) Discontinued

  31. ↑ 9 months later
  32. 2002

  33. Aug 2002

    iPod (2nd generation, Touch Wheel) Released

  34. ↑ 9 months later
  35. 2001

  36. 10 Nov 2001

    iPod (1st generation, Scroll Wheel) Launch

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