Apple Remote (original, unopened, 2005)

The original Apple Remote had a design resembling the original iPod shuffle. The remote had six buttons. In a circular layout at the top, five buttons included Play/Pause/Select (center), Volume Up, Next/Fast-forward, Volume Down, and Previous/Rewind. A round Menu button was centered below the circular layout. 

The remote was white with a black top. The IR emitter was placed behind the black top. This remote was powered by a CR2032 battery accessed by inserting a thin wire (such as a paper clip) to release a battery “drawer.”

The Apple Remote was designed to navigate Apple’s Front Row multimedia system built into Mac computers at the time. Front Row allowed users to browse and play music in iTunes, view videos saved on the Mac in iTunes, play DVDs, and browse photos in iPhoto. The Front Row system was removed from macOS in Mac OS X version 10.7, but the Apple Remote could continue be used to control Keynote presentations, play movies in QuickTime, and control iTunes.

The original Apple Remote could also control an iPod in an iPod Dock with IR capabilities and the iPod Hi-Fi. 

Early models of the white flat panel iMac included a magnet on the lower-right side to attach the Apple Remote. The iMac Mid-2007 model removed this feature.

These Apple Remote devices are unopened in two different types of packaging. Both shipped along with other Apple devices. I also have several remotes of this style no longer in the packaging.

Reference: Wikipedia.com

Mac mini Core 2 Duo (2007)

The Mac mini Core 2 Duo featured a 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1 GB of SDRAM memory, an 80 GB Serial ATA hard drive, a slot-loading 8X DVD/CD-RW Combo drive, and it came with an Apple Remote.

Ports included DVI (with a DVI-to-VGA adapter included), Firewire 400, four USB 2.0 ports, a combined optical digital audio input/audio line in, combined optical digital audio output/headphone, a 10/100/1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet port, and built-in AirPort Extreme/Bluetooth 2.0. It lacks an internal 56k modem.

This model had the same case as the original Mac mini: 6.5 inches square, 2 inches tall, and weighed 2.9 pounds. This and all Mac mini systems ship without a display, keyboard, or mouse.

I upgraded to this Mac mini from the original due to its larger hard drive and optical digital audio output/headphone jack. I used it for the same purpose as the original to access iTunes and digital movies. It also permanently replaced my DVD player in the age of physical-DVD Netflix (before digital streaming, Netflix movies arrived in the mail on DVDs that played in a DVD player).

Now that this Mac mini has been retired as my media server, I use it to power my digital fireplace.

Source: EveryMac.com

iPod Generation 2 (2002)

The iPod Generation 2 was similar to the original iPod in design, but the moving scroll wheel was replaced by a stationary touch-sensitive scroll wheel. In addition, the FireWire port gained a cover. The top of the iPod design also changed to allow the buttons to be surrounded by stainless steel cutouts instead of the plastic top used in the original iPod. Accessories were also added including a wired remote control, a thinner Firewire cable, and a carrying case.

The iPod Generation 2 was offered in 10 GB and 20 GB models and also added Windows compatibility.

Other than the increased hard drive sizes that allowed the iPod to hold up to 4,000 songs in the 20 GB model, the other specifications were the same as the original iPod: a 60-mW amplifier, a FireWire port, and a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack, and a 2-inch black and white backlit LCD display, and a 10-hour battery.

Source: EveryMac.com

iPod nano Generation 4 (8 GB, blue, 2008)

Replacing the “squat” design of the Generation 3, the iPod nano Generation 4 returned to a “skinny” design similar to its predecessors. The new wraparound curved aluminum and glass case was offered in an unprecedented nine colors: silver, black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, and (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition. The display was a wide-format 2-inch (diagonal) color LCD display at 320×240.

The iPod nano Generation 4 used either 8 GB or 16 GB of flash memory, capable of storing 2000 or 4000 songs, 7000 or 14,000 photos, and 8 hours or 16 hours of video. All colors were offered for both capacities.

The iPod nano Generation 4 features included an accelerometer (automatically switched to “Cover Flow” navigation in landscape orientation), games and videos only played in landscape, a new Genius feature to dynamically create playlists, and shake-to-shuffle for songs. Accessibility options were added including larger text and spoken menu items. It also included Nike+iPod support, FM radio tagging (using the Apple Radio Remote), support for audio crossfade, and games including Maze, Klondike, and Vortex.

Source: EveryMac.com

iPod Hi-Fi (2006)

The iPod Hi-Fi was announced by Steve Jobs on February 28, 2006, in a keynote where he introduced the device as “Home stereo. Reinvented.” The speaker system included a 30-pin iPod connector on top and shipped with inserts for every iPod with a dock connector it has shipped until that time. The back of the iPod Hi-Fi included a 3.5mm stereo input so users with an iPod shuffle (or other device) could connect to the device.

The remote control that shipped with the iPod Hi-Fi, the same remote that shipped with iMac models at the time, could only control volume and skip between tracks within the selected playlist. The menu button switched between the dock and the audio-in port and could not control the functions of the iPod in the dock. Also, the iPod Hi-Fi can be used with all iPods with a dock connector, but will only charge iPods that support Firewire charging.

My example iPod Hi-Fi unfortunately has crushed speaker cones on the two smaller speakers. I’ve attempted a few remedies unsuccessfully.

The iPod Hi-Fi retailed at the Apple Store for $349. This price was higher than similar high-end iPod speaker systems at the time, including a then-popular system from Bose priced at $299. The iPod Hi-Fi was discontinued on September 5, 2007.

Source: Wikipedia