The Evolution of the iPod Nano [Infographic]

John Brownlee ()

The Evolution of the iPod Nano [Infographic]

Perhaps more than any other device in Apple’s electronics arsenal, the iPod nano has changed dramatically over the years. Birthed as the iPod Mini, the first generation nano rounded off and slightly shrank the design, while adding a color screen.

The second generation nano contented itself with a mere material shift to an aluminum case, while the third generation was crunched down to a a squat while gaining Coverflow and video playback.

That squat design was reversed in the fourth generation and the display lengthened while the nano gained an accelerometer and shake-to-shuffle capabilties.

The fifth put the nano’s display on the rack and stretched it out so long it was capable of displaying 16:9 movies when held horizontally, as well as adding a video camera, voice recording, an FM radio and a pedometer to the mix.

And now here we are in the sixth generation, which shrinks the nano down to the size of a Shuffle, ditching the 16:9 display, video camera and voice recording of the previous generation in favor of a smaller form factor and a 240×240 pixel multitouch screen.

DON'T MISS

As the above infographic by DVICE shows, the nano’s been a polymorph. Who knows what other forms the nano’s shapeshifting design will take over the next half decade?

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About the author

John BrownleeJohn Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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  • Glenn

    This new nano is basically a very expensive iPod Shuffle with a screen, something people have been screaming for ever since the first Shuffle was released several years ago. I hope they are happy.

    For me, I will evidently be keeping my current nano for years to come because I like its combination of video capability and pocketability.

  • Oldandintheway

    I still think the the 3rd generation is the best size wise. If it recorded video it would be perfect.

  • http://www.zoomata.com Nicole Martinelli

    Ack! Looking at the chart, I see that my second gen is from 2006…It’s still going strong & by far my favorite for toting music and audiobooks around, the other models all have a bunch of stuff I don’t really need or want…Here’s hoping it hangs on for a couple more years…

  • http://dougitdesign.com Doug Aghassi

    Doh…typo in the info graphic…4th Gen-2006 (?)

  • firesign3000

    I want one of the new Nanos and I don’t really even have a use for it. My 60 GB 5G iPod still works great and I have an iPhone 4, but the new Nano just seems very cool to me.

  • http://blog.keithbradnam.com Keith Bradnam

    Another take on the evolution of the iPod nano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz58g3-Tcis

  • iQuackington

    Got a 4th gen nano. Was contemplating upgrading, depending on what came out yesterday. This announcement definitely made up my mind to stick with my current one as long as possible!

  • Machete9236

    I think the new touch-screen Nanos are kind of ugly. They look square, awkward and are not uniformly shaped (i.e., the clip), which is very unlike an Apple product. But, hey, it might be a cool iPod. It’s definitely not for me, though. I mean, the scroll-wheel models have a place in the iPod lineup. If Apple wants to go all touch-screen, just cut the Nano and Shuffle. Don’t try to cram a little touch-screen onto something that is used during exercise and needs to be quickly adjusted without looking.

  • http://balexandre.com Bruno Alexandre

    I must say that was the iPod that I was no fun off, the lack of Video just drove me sad…

    …but I just bought the new iPod Touch (even if I do miss the GPS there), the Retina display, the FaceTime, the HD Video Recording it’s fantastic to the wife shoot pics and videos of the kids.

    I loved the new Shuffle, I think they really nailed it now, it’s just amazing and, even the price!

  • Moritz Schmale

    It’s not that bad that they removed the Video _recording_ function, but they removed everything that has to do with video playback also. 3 Generations the iPod nano had this functionality and it isn’t bad to look a short podcast or a TV show on the small screen. If they’d just made the current iPod in a 3:2 ratio, they would have a great video function.

  • http://getyourgadgetsgoing.com Tristan Thomas

    Sorry but Apple should concentrate more on fixing its broken products then to introduce new ones. Hey, you can’t blame them for trying to cover up a solution for the iPhone

    Plus has anyone heard about why Apple would not allow its products to be tested by O2? It was a simple questionnaire that they had to fill out. You can check it out here: http://tech-senses.com/?p=83

  • Courtney

    Great inforgraphic on the Nano, really shows how it has changed over time. To check out a time-line on how all Apple iPod’s have changed check out http://www.digitalsurgeons.com/ipod-timeline-infographic/