October 26, 2004: Apple debuts the iPod Photo, a device capable of putting not just 15,000 songs in your pocket, but also 25,000 photographs. The new device “lets you take your entire music and photo library with you wherever you go,” Apple says.
It is the first iPod to offer a color screen and the ability to display digital images and album cover art. The iPod Photo represents a big step forward in the functionality of Apple’s iconic music player.
iPod Photo: The peak of the iPod’s success
A fourth-generation iPod, the iPod Photo entered the product line at the height of the Apple music player’s cultural impact. (Read more about that in our iPod retrospective, “An illustrated history of the iPod and its massive impact.”)
The iPod Photo released on this day in 2004 brought innovative new features in addition to its 2-inch, 65,536-color LCD screen with LED backlight.
“iPod Photo holds up to 25,000 digital photos alongside your music library and displays them on its stunning high-resolution color screen, allowing you to scroll through your photo library almost instantly using iPod’s patent pending Click Wheel,” Apple said in a press release announcing the device. “iPod Photo lets you combine your music and your favorite photos to create magical slideshows on your iPod, and features TV-out for sharing your slideshows on big screen televisions and projectors.”
Improvements included increased playtime and the ability to send images to a television via composite- or S-video cables. Beyond the screen and other updates, it retained the same Click Wheel controller as other iPods, along with then-standard FireWire and USB 2.0 connections.
It came in two configurations: a 40GB model that retailed for $500 and a 60GB version that cost $600. This made the new device a relatively pricy (although tempting) proposition.
Apple’s updated music player is all about that colorful screen
Of course, that sweet color screen was the iPod Photo’s big selling point. It made a huge difference when compared to previous iPods’ drab, monochrome displays.
Menus looked cleaner and the built-in Solitaire game finally proved playable. Even better, artist names or song and album titles that didn’t fit on the screen no longer got cut short with an ellipsis. Now, they scrolled across the screen. It was like living in the future!
Looking back from today’s vantage point, it is obvious that devices like the iPod Photo weren’t simply attempts to prolong the lifespan of a product getting long in the tooth by slapping on a few cheap (or not-so-cheap) gimmicks. Instead, the ability to carry a high-end color display in your pocket, and to be able to use this to view photos, was part of the build-up to the iPhone, which Apple unveiled three years later in 2007. In that way, the iPod Photo helped pave the way for Apple’s arrival as a true “mobile first” company.
The iPod line continued long after the iPhone’s launch, however. Apple finally pulled the plug on the iPod touch in May 2022.
Did you own the iPod Photo? Leave your comments below.