The fourth generation iPod Touch (marketed as "the new iPod touch", and colloquially known as the iPod Touch 4G, iPod Touch 4, or iPod 4) is a multi-touch mobile device designed and marketed by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

with a touchscreen-based

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...

. The successor to the 3rd-generation iPod Touch, it was unveiled at Apple's media event on September 1, 2010, and was released on September 12, 2010. It is compatible with up to iOS 6.1.6, which was released on February 21, 2014. The fourth-generation iPod Touch was the first iPod to offer front and rear facing cameras. It is a slimmer, lighter model than its predecessors and the

iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...

, and introduces a Retina Display. Other improvements include support for recording 720p video via the rear camera, Apple's A4 chip (the same chip used in the iPad (1st generation), and

History

The fourth-generation iPod Touch was initially released with a single color option. It initially featured with a black-colored front with a stainless steel back. On October 12, 2011, with the release of the iPhone 4S, the white-colored version was added and the stainless steel back remained unchanged. It was the last iPod Touch to have this customization option, because it was removed with the release of the fifth-generation iPod Touch, which removed the front color options in favor of changing the faceplate color depending on the back color of the device. The device was initially only sold in 8 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB models. The three storage options remained the same in October 2011, with the release of the white-colored version. On October 11, 2012, Apple discontinued the 8 GB and 64 GB models with the release of the 32 and 64 GB models of the fifth-generation iPod Touch. The price for the 32 GB model was reduced, and the 16 GB model was introduced. The iPod Touch (4th generation) was officially discontinued by Apple on May 30, 2013, with the release of a 16 GB version of its successor, the iPod Touch 5. It is also the last of the iPod Touch players released to use the

30-pin dock connector A dock connector is a connector used to attach a mobile electronic device simultaneously to multiple external resources. The dock connector will typically carry a variety of signals and power, through a single connector, to simplify the process o ...

, which was substituted with the

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

connector starting with the 5th generation of iPod Touch devices.

Features

Software

It fully supports iOS 4, and

iOS 5 iOS 5 is the fifth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 4. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2011, and was released on October 12, 201 ...

, but has limited support for

iOS 6 iOS 6 is the sixth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc, being the successor to iOS 5. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11, 2012, and was released on September 19, 2 ...

. Unlike the

, it did not support

iOS 7 iOS 7 is the seventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 6. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, 2013, and was released on September 1 ...

due to performance issues. On November 14, 2013, Apple issued iOS 6.1.5 for the iPod touch (4th generation) to fix FaceTime calls failing. On February 21, 2014, Apple issued iOS 6.1.6 for the iPod touch (4th generation) and iPhone 3GS to fix faulty SSL verification. It also was the last version for all those devices.

References

{{Apple IPod IOS Products introduced in 2010 Touchscreen portable media players Digital audio players