iTunes has grown from its roots as a program that let Mac users rip
their CDs to MP3 format, manage their music libraries, and burn CDs.
Today iTunes supports iPods, the iPhone, Apple TV, Apple's online
iTunes Store (which distributes music, podcasts, video, and software),
and online video rentals.
Apple released the first version of iTunes on January 9, 2001. The
program was created by the developers of SoundJam MP, one of the
leading MP3 programs for the Mac at the time. Casady & Greene
discontinued SoundJam MP effective 2001.06.01, as it made no sense to
try to sell a commercial program when iTunes was free.
iTunes 1.0 requires Mac OS 9 (9.1 or later to burn CDs). Version 1.1
(2001.02.21) for the Classic Mac OS added support for third-party
burners, and the first version for Mac OS X was released on 2001.03.24,
although the OS X version didn't support burning CDs until 2001.05.01,
when version 1.1 was published. iTunes was not bundled with the Mac OS
until version 1.1.2, which was bundled with OS X 10.1.
The most important change ever came with version 2.0, which was
available on 2001.10.23. Apple added iPod support, making it easy for
Mac users to move their sound libraries to the iPod, which was also
released on that date. iTunes 2.0.x was the last version developed for
both the Classic Mac OS and Mac OS X.
iTunes 3.0 (2002.07.17) added "smart playlists", and version 4.0
(2003.04.28) added support for the iTunes Music Store and the AAC audio
codec, which included digital rights management (DRM). Apple also
introduced music sharing with iTunes 4.0.
With version 4.1 (2003.10.16), iTunes made the leap into the world
of Windows (XP and 2000), where it replaced Musicmatch as the software
used to sync iPods to the user's music library. Version 4.5
(2004.04.28) added the "party shuffle" feature, a lossless version of
AAC, and the ability to convert WMA file to AAC format (only on Windows
computers). Version 4.7 added support for the iPod photo, including
synching with a Mac user's iPhoto library. iTunes 4.8 added video
support, and 4.9 added support for podcasts and the Motorola ROKR
mobile phone.
iTunes 5.0 (2005.09.07) added parental control and "smart shuffle",
along with interface improvements. Version 6.0 (2005.10.12) brought
support for the 5G "video" iPod, and iTunes 6.0.2 (2006.01.10) was the
first "universal" version with support for both PowerPC and Intel
Macs.
iTunes 7.0 (2006.09.12) introduced iPod games, gapless playback, and
the Cover Flow interface. Version 7.1 (2007.03.04) added support for
Apple TV and fixed some issues with Windows Vista, which wasn't fully
supported until version 7.2 (2007.05.29). This version also added
support for DRM-free iTunes Plus tracks, and 7.3 was the first version
to support iPhone activation.
iTunes 7.6 (2008.01.15) includes support for renting movies from the
iTunes Store and copying Apple TV purchases to the user's computer.
Mac Version History
Requirements are minimums.
- 1.0, requires Mac OS 9.0 (9.1 to burn CDs)
- 1.1, requires Mac OS 9.1. 25 third party burners supported.
- 2.0, requires Mac OS 9.2.1 or Mac OS X 10.1. iPod support
added.
- 3.0, requires Mac OS X 10.1.4, 400 MHz G3, 256 MB RAM. Audible
content supported
- 4.0, requires Max OS X 10.1.5 and QuickTime 6.2. AAC support,
iTunes Store, and music sharing added (music sharing requires Mac OS X
10.2.4).
- 4.1, file sharing with Windows computers added
- 4.5, party shuffle and lossless encoder added
- 4.6, AirTunes added (requires Mac OS X 10.3)
- 4.8, requires Mac OS X 10.2. Video support and contact/calendar
sync added
- 5.0, parental controls added
- 6.0, requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 to 10.4.7. iTunes Store video
purchases added (requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 and QuickTime 7.0.3)
- 7.0, requires Mac OS X 10.3
- 7.6 (latest), requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or 10.4.9, QuickTime 6.5.2,
500 MHz G3, 256 MB RAM (16 MB video RAM, QuickTime 7.1.6, and 1 GHz G4
for video)
iPod Compatibility
1G and 2G iPods only support a FireWire connection. 3G and later
iPods (except for the shuffle) use a dock connector and can be charged
using FireWire even if they don't support sync over FireWire. All 4G
and later iPods charge and synchvia USB.
iPods with USB support will work with USB 1.1, but it will be very,
very slow.
iPod hardware may have higher Mac OS requirements than the oldest
version of iTunes that will work with them otherwise requires.
Full Sized iPods
- 1G iPod, iTunes 2.0, Mac OS 9.0 or Mac OS X 10.1, FireWire
- 2G iPod, iTunes 3.0, Mac OS X 10.1, FireWire
- 3G iPod, iTunes 4.0, Mac OS X 10.1, FireWire or USB (USB for sync
only)
- 4G iPod, iTunes 4.6, Mac OS X 10.1, FireWire or USB
- iPod photo/color, iTunes 4.7, Mac OS X 10.2, FireWire or USB
- 5G iPod (video), iTunes 6.0, Mac OS X 10.3, USB
- 5.5G iPod (video), iTunes 7.0, Mac OS X 10.3, USB
- iPod classic, iTunes 7.4, Mac OS X 10.4, USB
- iPod touch iTunes 7.4, Mac OS X 10.4, USB
Smaller iPods
- 1G iPod mini, iTunes 4.2, Mac OS X 10.1, FireWire or USB
- 2G Mac mini, iTunes 4.7.1, Mac OS X 10.2, FireWire or USB
- 1G iPod nano, iTunes 5.0, Mac OS X 10.3, USB
- 2G iPod nano, iTunes 7.0.2, Mac OS X 10.3, USB
- 3G iPod nano, iTunes 7.4, Mac OS X 10.4, USB
iPod shuffle
- 1G iPod shuffle, iTunes 4.7.1, Mac OS X 10.2, USB
- 2G iPod shuffle, iTunes 7.0.2, Mac OS X 10.3, USB
- 3G iPod shuffle, iTunes 7.0.2, Mac OS X 10.3, USB
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