The iPod Mini (stylized and marketed as the iPod mini) is a digital audio player that was designed and marketed by Apple. It was positioned as a smaller, midrange model in Apple's iPod product line to complement the iPod Classic. The device was announced on January 6, 2004, and released on February 20 of the same year. A second generation version with enhanced battery life and increased storage was released on February 23, 2005. While it was in production, it was one of the most popular electronic products on the market, with consumers often unable to find a retailer with the product in stock.

The iPod Mini was the first iPod device to use the click wheel, which was developed for Apple by Synaptics. It combined the touch-sensitive scroll wheel of the third generation iPod with buttons located beneath the wheel. This interface proved to be popular and was adopted for several later iPod models. Above the wheel is a monochrome 1.67" LCD that displays a menu or information about the selected track. The iPod Mini was discontinued on September 7, 2005, when it was succeeded by the iPod Nano.

Models

{| class="wikitable"new ecoca click wheel?

|-

!Model

!Image

!Capacity

!Colors

!Connection

!Original release date

!Minimum OS to sync

!Rated battery life <small>(hours)</small>

|- valign="top"

! rowspan="2"| 1st generation

|rowspan="1;" style="text-align:center;"|100px|1st generation iPod Mini|alt=iPod Mini (1st Generation) Model A1051: January 2004

|style="text-align:center|4&nbsp;GB

|colors — 5

  • Silver
  • Blue
  • Green
  • Pink
  • Gold

|USB or FireWire

|style="text-align:center;"|February 20, 2004

|style="text-align:center;"|Mac:&nbsp;10.1.5 or later<br/>Windows:&nbsp;2000<br/><br/>iTunes 4.6 or later

|style="text-align:center;"|audio:&nbsp;8

|-

|colspan="7"|New smaller model, available in 5 colors. Introduced the "Click Wheel".

|- valign="top"

!rowspan="3"|2nd generation

|rowspan="2;" style="text-align:center;"|100px|2nd generation iPod Mini|alt=iPod Mini (2nd generation) Model A1051

|style="text-align:center;"|4&nbsp;GB

|rowspan=2|

  • Silver
  • Blue
  • Green
  • Pink

|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|USB or FireWire

|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|February 23, 2005

|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"|Mac:&nbsp;10.2.8 or 10.3.4 or later similar to the third generation iPod that was available at the time. Apple addressed this problem in the second generation models by increasing the battery life to about 18 hours, at the cost of removing the included FireWire and AC adapter cables to avoid increasing selling costs. A proprietary Apple 30-pin dock connector is located on the bottom of the device. The iPod Mini can charge and transfer files when connected to a computer via USB or FireWire. Along the top, it has a hold switch, a headphone jack, and a remote connector for accessories.

The iPod Mini supports MP3, AAC/M4A, WAV, AIFF, and Apple Lossless audio formats. It supports integration with iTunes and the iTunes Store, allowing for syncing of content between the software application and the iPod Mini.

thumb|A second generation iPod Mini with a Compact Flash card in place of its original Hitachi Microdrive

References

  • iPod Mini specifications, both generations
  • Video of Jobs launching the iPod Mini at Macworld 2004