What generation is my iPod Touch

This is something that we need to know from time to time, the question of what generation is my iPod Touch? Lately this is because the operating system is split into versions for different iDevices and quite often there are separate versions for generations of the same device. This is hardly surprising seeing as the iPod has been going for some time now and stayed with the same name for the marketing purposes. This is just the same as the way that car manufacturers will give a car a name and even though it changes drastically over the years, it will still be called a Golf, or a Focus and so on.

I found that an easy way to find out what generation is my iPod Touch, is to look at the back of the iPod and try to find the model number. It was very difficult to see, I had to put on my glasses and still I could have done with having a magnifying glass. So look at the lower part of the iPod underneath where it is engraved with the amount of internal memory it has. So for me just underneath where it says 16 GB, I can see that first of all there is a serial number, which is in very small text. Then underneath the serial number in a sentence which starts with designed by – I can see at the end of that there is the model number. The model number of the iPod, I have is A1288. This is the important number that we are looking for. I can work it out from this model number and I can say on my iPod touch it is a second generation, 2G. The iPod Touch that I have is one without a camera and whether or not it has a camera is another way to help you work out which generation of iPod Touch you have.

More How do I tell what generation my iPod Touch is?

If when you look at the back of your iPod Touch to try and find out exactly what you have, and you see the model number A1318, then you have an iPod Touch 3rd generation. There are also other clues which can help you work out the generation of your iPod Touch. For instance if the back of the case is rounded (bevelled), rather than being flat with no audio buttons on the side then it is a generation 2 and not a first-generation iPod touch. The second-generation iPod touch also gained an oval shaped wireless antenna cover on the rear of the device, top left corner. On the previous model the cover was rectangular.

The iPod Touch fourth-generation

This model of the iPod Touch, the 4th Gen has two built-in cameras and is available in both white and black. This is the current generation of the iPod Touch. It was introduced in September of 2010, just available in black and the white model of the fourth gen iPod touch was introduced in October of 2011. It is available in 8 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB configurations and is quite a desirable iPod, although not quite as desirable as the iPhone. The iPhone 4 has a much better camera front and back and the iPhone 4S, the camera is better again.

Before the iPhone event which was called ‘Let’s Talk iPhone’, which happened in October of 2011, I was kind of hoping that there could possibly have been a new iPod touch introduced. On account of the fact that I don’t make many phone calls, it would have been great to have an iPod Touch in the line up, that had the good cameras as per the iPhone 4 and also to have 3G internet connection. Alas that was not to be, so that still leaves me still in a bit of a quandary as to what to buy next. If the iPod Touch had a better camera I would buy it in a heartbeat. I would get one even faster than that, if it also had the 3G connection. That would kind of make it like a nano iPad. When it comes down to buying another iDevice like this, I think I will be better to wait until the next version of the iPad, the iPad 3. If that has the better camera to go with the fact that it already has 3G connectivity available in some of the iPad models, then despite the fact that it is a lot bigger than the iPod, it could be just perfect for me. I wouldn’t mind getting an iPod Touch 16gb 4th generation. For the moment though, at least I now know, what generation is my iPod Touch.

Why would I want to know what generation is my iPod Touch?

What does happen sometimes, is that an iPod Touch owner will be trying to update to iOS 5 and each time they click on the Check for Update, they get the message – This version of the iPod software (4.2.1) is the current version. It doesn’t matter if the iPod is restored and restarted numerous times, nothing seems to work. Often in such a case, what you need to do is to make sure that you really have an iPod Touch that is a third-generation model. That is why if you see the A1288 model number on the back then you really only have a second-generation model. And you can be sure that if the device only holds 8 GB of your data, then it is surely a second-generation model iPod Touch.

If you have verified that your iPod Touch is a model that can be upgraded to iOS 5, then maybe what you need to do is to download the update from Apple directly. Here is a place where you can get those iPod updates to iOS 5. Download what you need, then hold down the option key and click on Restore. Go to where you have your downloaded iOS 5 update, choose that and continue. If you haven’t been backing up your iPod through iTunes already, it is going to be a good idea to do a backup first. Doing an update to iOS 5 in this way will wipe out any data that is on your iPod touch.