Supported iPods

Every iPod model and how well ClassicTunes supports it, from the original iPod to the iPod nano 7th generation, with what each one can sync.

ClassicTunes is made for click-wheel iPods that connect to the Mac as a disk. Most of them are fully supported. A few newer ones are supported experimentally, and some can't be synced yet.

ClassicTunes recognizes the model by itself when you connect it: its name, capacity and color appear at the top of its page. See Connecting an iPod.

#Fully supported

The iPod classic signs its music database with a code tied to that iPod, which ClassicTunes writes for it. It has been tested on an iPod classic 80 GB. ClassicTunes reads the iPod's FireWire ID to sign the database; if it can't read it, the iPod is shown as not supported.

Music and audiobooks sync to every one of these iPods. The first three generations have no Podcasts menu, so podcasts are turned off for them; iPods without a color screen don't get photos; and only iPods with a Videos menu get videos.

#Experimental

The iPod classic 120 GB, 160 GB (2009) and the nano 3rd and 4th generations get podcasts, album art, photos and videos, as the iPod classic 80 GB does.

#iPod nano (7th generation)

The iPod nano 7th generation keeps its music library in a different format from every other iPod: a compressed, signed database alongside a library of its own. ClassicTunes writes both, the way they've been confirmed to work on a real nano 7th generation by another app, but ClassicTunes itself hasn't been tested on one yet. Its page says so, and asks you to take a snapshot first (Take Snapshot, under Backups), so the iPod can be put back as it is now.

On a nano 7th generation:

• Songs, playlists (smart playlists as they stand at the sync), podcasts, audiobooks and videos sync, with album art, and play counts come back to your library.
• Photos aren't synced.
• Before writing, ClassicTunes checks that the database already on the nano was signed for that nano. If it can't reproduce the signature, it leaves the nano unchanged and says so. If it can't read the details it needs from the nano, it asks you to connect it again, or to sync it once with Finder first.
• The previous database is kept on the nano as a backup while the new library is installed, and put back if installing fails, so the two never disagree.

#Not supported

When you connect an unsupported iPod, it still appears in the sidebar with its page. The banner explains what's missing, and lists the iPods that work. You can still eject it from ClassicTunes.

#Other ways to use an iPod

• Rockbox. If your iPod runs Rockbox, ClassicTunes syncs it as usual and also writes playlists for Rockbox and reads its play log. An iPod that only runs Rockbox can sync as a Rockbox music player. See iPod tools.
• Music players that aren't iPods. Players that appear as a drive or take an SD card, including the Sprout iPod motherboard, sync too. See Music players.

#Songs no iPod can play

Some songs can't go on any iPod:

• Apple Music songs and other copy-protected (DRM) files are skipped, because no iPod can play them. Songs bought from the iTunes Store, CD imports and your own files sync normally.
• Songs in formats the iPod can't play are converted to AAC as they sync. A few (for example, sample rates above 48 kHz) need converting once with iPod › Find Songs iPods Can't Play…; see Tidying up.

#From AppleScript and Shortcuts

Scripts can read each connected iPod's model and capacity:

tell application "ClassicTunes"
    repeat with p in iPods
        log (name of p) & ": " & (model of p) & ", " & ((capacity of p) / 1.0E+9) & " GB"
    end repeat
end tell

In Shortcuts (macOS 13 and later), iPods can be chosen from a list in each iPod action. See AppleScript and Shortcuts.