{"id":28580,"date":"2003-04-28T14:02:16","date_gmt":"2003-04-28T18:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/?p=28580"},"modified":"2025-05-06T12:56:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T16:56:35","slug":"3rd-generation-ipod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/2003\/3rd-generation-ipod\/","title":{"rendered":"3rd Generation iPod"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the third generation (3G) iPod, Apple replaced the four buttons surrounding the scrollwheel\u00a0with a row of round buttons between the scrollwheel and the display. The 3G iPod also introduced the 30-pin dock connector and no longer had separate Mac and PC versions.<\/p>\n

\"3G<\/a><\/p>\n

The buttons are, left to right, previous track, menu<\/em>, play\/pause, and next track. The button at the center of the scrollwheel is select<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This was the first iPod to support USB 2.0, which really opened up the iPod’s market. Most Windows PCs do not have FireWire<\/a>, but they had had USB 2.0 since it first arrived. Curiously, while the 3G iPod can sync via USB, it cannot charge using a USB cable. For that it needs a powered FireWire port or a separate FireWire charger.<\/p>\n

This was the first iPod to require Mac OS X. Previous iPods work with Mac OS 9.2 and 9.2.2, so this marked the end of Classic Mac OS support.<\/p>\n

The 3G iPod was available in more capacities than any other model: 10, 15, 20, 30, and 40 GB were all options over the life of this model. At its April 2003 release, you could buy a 10, 15, or 30 GB 3G iPod. 20 and 40 GB models were added in September 2003, and an improved 15 GB model replaced the original one in January 2004.<\/p>\n

The 3G iPod was far more energy efficient than previous models and achieved 8 hours of battery life from a 630 mAh battery. This also made the 3G iPod thinner and lighter than earlier models. A full charge took 3 hours, but it could fast charge to 80% of capacity in just one hour.<\/p>\n

Unlike competing devices that used MP3 file compression<\/a>, the iPod with iTunes was designed to use the superior AAC (Advanced Audio Coding<\/a>) audio format in addition to MP3. AAC\u00a0generally\u00a0provides superior sound quality over MP3 at the same bit rate, especially at 96 kbps and lower sampling rates, as well as more efficient encoding, which means smaller files.<\/p>\n

Four buttons surrounded the scroll wheel: menu<\/em> on the top, play\/pause on the bottom, previous track on the left, and next track on the right. The button at the center of the scroll wheel is the select<\/em> button.<\/p>\n

Hardware Overview<\/h3>\n

Models<\/h4>\n