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ipod touch 5th gen can't use iTunes

I just bought the refurbished 5th generation ipod touch at the apple store. I chose this model because in the tech specs on the Apple website is says that it will work with my computer:

"Syncing with iTunes on a Mac or PC requires: Mac: OS X v10.6.8 or later and iTunes 10.7 or later "

But when I just tried to sync with iTunes it says : "ipod touch cannot be used because it requires a newer version of iTunes."

I have iTunes 11.4 so it should work.

Am I out of luck? I don't want to buy a new computer and I like this iPod.

iOS 7.1.1

Posted on Mar 13, 2018 4:26 PM

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Posted on Mar 15, 2018 3:31 PM

A fifth generation iPod Touch doesn’t need the latest iTunes version, but may need a newer version of iTunes, at least, iTunes version 12.6.x which requires a newer version of the Mac OS.


https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1934?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

An iPod Touch 5th generation iOS max is iOS 9.3.5.


Are you sure this is a refurb iPod 5th OR a refurbished iPod 6th gen?

Also, what year and model Mac do you own?

A 6th gen iPod Touch would need a newer version Mac OS and newer version of iTunes, not necessarily a new computer.

Check and post the model ID number here in another reply post.

The iPod Touch model ID number is located in the Settings App, General, About.

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Question marked as Best reply

Mar 15, 2018 3:31 PM in response to Walter Albertson

A fifth generation iPod Touch doesn’t need the latest iTunes version, but may need a newer version of iTunes, at least, iTunes version 12.6.x which requires a newer version of the Mac OS.


https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1934?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

An iPod Touch 5th generation iOS max is iOS 9.3.5.


Are you sure this is a refurb iPod 5th OR a refurbished iPod 6th gen?

Also, what year and model Mac do you own?

A 6th gen iPod Touch would need a newer version Mac OS and newer version of iTunes, not necessarily a new computer.

Check and post the model ID number here in another reply post.

The iPod Touch model ID number is located in the Settings App, General, About.

Mar 15, 2018 4:05 PM in response to Walter Albertson

Finding a newer version of iTunes for OS X 10.7 could be problematic, unless a newer version of iTunes is part of the OS X 10.7 install.


The link I provided was on the Apple website and was part of section for older iTunes downloads.


https://support.apple.com/en_US/downloads/itunes

There is NO iTunes version listed there that list a minimum Mac OS of 10.7 Lion.

The earliest version the Apple website has is for version 12.4.3.

I believe for that iPod Touch 5th gen on iOS 9.3.5, you are going to need a version of iTunes 12.

Whether version 12.4.3 works with your Mac with 10.7 Lion is unknown.


So, your Mac COULD be too old to use this iPod Touch model, not sure about this, as yet.


Good Luck to You!

Mar 15, 2018 3:10 PM in response to MichelPM

Thank you for your reply. I bought this a week ago at the Apple refurb store and it was sold as 5th gen.

The ID is: FGG12LL/A

My Mac Pro is still using OS 10.6 and I can't upgrade past 10.7.

I must use iTunes 11.4

I've done some research since my earlier post and it looks like since the ipod uses iOS9, it can no longer sync with my version of iTunes. So I am thinking that if OS10.7 has a usable version of iTunes, I could install that and reboot into Lion when I want to sync my ipod; which wouldn't be very convenient.

Mar 15, 2018 8:29 PM in response to Walter Albertson

Well,

That Mac Pro is pretty old, now.

Gotta be close to 12 years old, now!

Not exactly “forced” obsolescence, I think.

I hope that if you are online with this Mac, that you are using a much more “recent” and more “up to date” web browser than that nearly 9 year old version of Safari, which is no longer a safe and secure web browser to be using for quite some time. That version of Safari has NOT had any updates of any kind in, at least, six years!


That Mac, even with using OS X 10.7.5 Lion is still 6 major Mac OSes behind the curve.

The longest Mac I used to regularly used was 8 years old!

My current iMac is 9 years old, now, and, more than likely, will become 10 years old, next year!

Mar 15, 2018 10:01 PM in response to Walter Albertson

I don't want to get into a whole thing about this, but technology and software march on.

Companies that put out ANY type of product, to sell to the public, is going to keep producing something new every single year to stay in business and to be profitable.

Technically, anything you purchase in a given year WILL be obsoleted with a “new and improved” model the following year.

Nothing has been "intentionally” removed from your Mac.

The computing hardware and software requirements improve yearly and, eventually, those requirements exceed the capabilities of older hardware and software.

That's the reality.

“Nothing is forever!”


This is all I want to state/say on that topic/issue.



Anyways, since you hadn't acknowledge my concerns about being online, or not, with using a very old version of Apple Safari, you should seek out a third party web browser to use on the Internet that is more recent and more secure.



Also, before embarking on a major OS upgrade, it would be wise, advisable and very prudent if you have a good, working backup of your current system to an external connected and Mac formatted Flash drive OR externally connected USB, Thunderbolt or FireWire 800, Mac formatted hard drive. Then, use either OS X Time Machine app to backup your entire system to the external drive OR purchase, install and use a data cloning app, like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper, to make an exact and bootable copy (clone) of your entire Mac's internal hard drive. This step is really needed in case something goes wrong with the install of the new OS or you simply do not like the new OS, you have a very easy way/procedure to return your Mac to its former working state.

ipod touch 5th gen can't use iTunes

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