iPod touch (2nd generation)

The iPod touch (2nd generation) cost $229 and added the speaker the first one had gone without, so music and games could be heard without headphones for the first time on a touch. Volume buttons appeared on the left edge alongside it.

The back was rebuilt in curved metal with rounded edges, which made it lighter at 115 grams but also, despite what Apple said at the time, half a millimetre thicker than the model it replaced.

Battery life took the biggest jump of the two generations, from 22 hours of music to 36, and from five hours of video to six. Nike+ support went in, so a sensor in a running shoe could log a run straight to the device, and Genius arrived for building playlists.

Prices came down across the range. The 8GB cost $229 where the old 8GB had been $299, with 16GB at $299 and 32GB at $399. Steve Jobs called it the funnest iPod Apple had ever made.

It was announced on 9 September 2008 at the ‘Let’s Rock’ event. It went on sale worldwide the same day, priced from $229.

Read about the iPod touch (1st generation) that came before.