Capacity
All iPod models have a different capacity. Typically, this is measured in "number of songs" or "hours of video", depending on the model. The following is a table with an estimate of how many songs your iPod can hold.
| Capacity | Example | Num. 128kbps AAC songs | Num. 256kbps AAC songs | Num. 320kbps MP3 songs | Num. lossless songs | Qt. 480p video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 GB | iPod shuffle (1st generation), base model | 120 songs | 60 songs | 50 songs | 18 songs | N/A |
| 1.0 GB | iPod shuffle (2nd generation), base model | 250 songs | 125 songs | 100 songs | 35 songs | N/A |
| 2.0 GB | iPod shuffle (4th generation) | 500 songs | 250 songs | 200 songs | 75 songs | N/A |
| 4.0 GB 5.0 GB |
iPod mini (base model) iPod (1st generation) (base model) |
1,000 songs | 500 songs | 400 songs | 150 songs | 5.0 hours |
| 8.0 GB 10.0 GB |
iPod nano (5th generation) (base model) iPod (3rd generation) (base model) |
2,000 songs | 1,000 songs | 825 songs | 300 songs | 10.0 hours |
| 16.0 GB | iPod nano (7th generation) | 4,000 songs | 2,000 songs | 1,650 songs | 600 songs | 20.0 hours |
| 20.0 GB | iPod (4th generation) and iPod photo (base model) | 5,000 songs | 2,500 songs | 2,050 songs | 750 songs | N/A |
| 30.0 GB 32.0 GB |
iPod video (base model) | 7,500 songs | 3,750 songs | 3,100 songs | 1,050 songs | 36.0 hours |
| 60.0 GB 64.0 GB |
iPod photo (highest capacity avail.) iPod touch (5th generation) (highest capacity avail.) |
16,000 songs | 8,000 songs | 6,600 songs | 2,500 songs | 80.0 hours |
| 80.0 GB | iPod classic (6th generation) (base model) | 20,000 songs | 10,000 songs | 8,200 songs | 3,000 songs | 96 hours |
| 128.0 GB | Safe upgrade limit for: 3rd gen, 4th gen, iPod photo, 1st gen mini True upgrade limit for 6th gen. iPod touch (6th generation) (highest capacity avail.) |
32,000 songs | 16,000 songs | 13,200 songs | 5,000 songs | 6 days 12 hours |
| 160.0 GB | iPod classic (7th generation) | 40,000 songs | 20,000 songs | 16,400 songs | 6,000 songs | 8 days |
| 256.0 GB | iPod mini (2nd generation) safe upgrade limit iPod video "30 GB" safe upgrade limit iPod touch (7th generation) (highest capacity avail.) |
64,000 songs* | 32,000 songs | 26,400 songs | 10,000 songs | 13 days |
| 400.0 GB | iPod video "60/80 GB" safe upgrade limit iPod classic (7th generation) safe upgrade limit |
100,000 songs* | 50,000 songs* | 40,800 songs | 15,000 songs | 20 days |
| 512.0 GB | iPod mini (2nd generation) and iPod video "30 GB" safe lossless upgrade limit | 128,000 songs* | 64,000 songs* | 52,800 songs* | 20,000 songs | 26 days |
| 1.00 TB | iPod video "60/80 GB" and iPod classic (7th generation) safe lossless upgrade limit | 256,000 songs* | 128,000 songs* | 105,000 songs* | 40,000 songs | 7 weeks |
| 2.00 TB | iPod video and iPod classic (7th generation) true upgrade limit Upgrade limit for any iPod with Rockbox |
512,000 songs* | 256,000 songs* | 210,000 songs* | 80,000 songs* | 14 weeks |
† For audio file size calculations, a 4 minute average song length is used. This translates into 3.75 MiB per 128kbps song, 7.50 MiB per 256 kbps song, 9.40 MiB per 320 kbps song, and 25 MiB per lossless song. Capacity may vary depending on many other factors.
‡ For video file size calculations, the maximum iPod-supported bitrate of 1536 kbps (12 MiB/minute) is used. Actual amount of video supported will probably be higher.
* Not achievable without Rockbox on any iPod.
[Note 1]: Safe upgrade limit: How much the iPod can be upgraded without causing software problems (when using 256kbps audio), without Rockbox.
[Note 2]: Safe lossless upgrade limit: How much the iPod can be upgraded without causing software problems (when using lossless audio), without Rockbox.
[Note 3]: True upgrade limit: The maximum amount of storage the iPod itself can read, without Rockbox.