iPod touch 4th Gen iPod Touch extremely slow sync

MrXiro · Mar 3, 2013

I haven't had a 4th gen iPod touch in a while, been using an iPhone 4S and now a 5. But I just got one for fun for cheap, refurbished and certified from Apple so it should be all good. But it seems extremely slow when I am adding media to it. A small 286mb file took well over 5 minutes to actually download onto the iPod.

Is something wrong? I don't remember my 8gb 4th gen from a few years ago moving this slow and my iPhone 5 loads the same file in 10 seconds.

The iPod I just got is 32gb, does that make a difference?

aarond12 · Mar 4, 2013

The same file should not be syncing 60x slower than your iPhone. Check the usual suspects: Try a different cable, different USB port, different computer (if possible), restart the device, maybe even restore the device to factory-fresh condition.

If all those things don't work, you have a good case to getting a replacement unit from Apple.

AppleDeviceUser · Mar 4, 2013

Yeah I'd say that's about right the 6 iPod 4th gens I own all sync about the same speed as yours (32GB all bought brand new.) 286MB is a big file, not a small file, the average song or app is about 6 to 18 MB. Plus Lightning is about as fast as thunderbolt, and 30 pin is as slow as USB 2.0

MrXiro · Mar 4, 2013

AppleDeviceUser said:
Yeah I'd say that's about right the 6 iPod 4th gens I own all sync about the same speed as yours (32GB all bought brand new.) 286MB is a big file, not a small file, the average song or app is about 6 to 18 MB. Plus Lightning is about as fast as thunderbolt, and 30 pin is as slow as USB 2.0

Why would Lightning be as fast as Thunderbolt? They are both USB 2.0 cables that plug into a USB 2.0 port... well in my case USB 3.0 since I have a current gen Mac Mini... but the cable is USB 2.0 not 3.0, so it wouldn't go any faster.

5 min for a 286mb file is USB 1.1 speeds.
My daughter's 8gb 4th Gen iPod Touch loaded the same file in 52 seconds.

I first tried a settings reset which worked until I logged back into the wifi, unplugged the USB cable and plugged it back in again. After a 2nd plug in it was slow again.

I did a factory restore and erased all my content this time and logged back into the wifi. It seems to be on par with my daughter's iPod now. I'm wondering if the issue is an app that is screwing things up...

MrXiro · Mar 4, 2013

aarond12 said:
The same file should not be syncing 60x slower than your iPhone. Check the usual suspects: Try a different cable, different USB port, different computer (if possible), restart the device, maybe even restore the device to factory-fresh condition.

If all those things don't work, you have a good case to getting a replacement unit from Apple.

Seems like a factory reset and set up as a new iPod fixed the issue.

AppleDeviceUser · Mar 5, 2013

MrXiro said:
Why would Lightning be as fast as Thunderbolt? They are both USB 2.0 cables that plug into a USB 2.0 port... well in my case USB 3.0 since I have a current gen Mac Mini... but the cable is USB 2.0 not 3.0, so it wouldn't go any faster.

5 min for a 286mb file is USB 1.1 speeds.
My daughter's 8gb 4th Gen iPod Touch loaded the same file in 52 seconds.

I first tried a settings reset which worked until I logged back into the wifi, unplugged the USB cable and plugged it back in again. After a 2nd plug in it was slow again.

I did a factory restore and erased all my content this time and logged back into the wifi. It seems to be on par with my daughter's iPod now. I'm wondering if the issue is an app that is screwing things up...

In my case I use USB 3 too (15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display, 2012 iMac.) I was told by Apple that lightning was capable of transferring data at almost the same speed as thunderbolt if coupled with USB 3.0 on a new Mac. Yeah that seems about right speed (52 seconds.) 5 minutes is to long sorry, I was thinking more of downloading that file. That would take about 5 minutes. I believe it gets slower the more stuff you have on the iPod.

Also, was it said anywhere that the cable was USB 2.0? I have a feeling it's 3.0 because it syncs way faster than 30 pin.

MrXiro · Mar 5, 2013

AppleDeviceUser said:
In my case I use USB 3 too (15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display, 2012 iMac.) I was told by Apple that lightning was capable of transferring data at almost the same speed as thunderbolt if coupled with USB 3.0 on a new Mac. Yeah that seems about right speed (52 seconds.) 5 minutes is to long sorry, I was thinking more of downloading that file. That would take about 5 minutes. I believe it gets slower the more stuff you have on the iPod.

Also, was it said anywhere that the cable was USB 2.0? I have a feeling it's 3.0 because it syncs way faster than 30 pin.

Yeah I'm positive it is. I think whoever told you that gave you some bad information.
It's probably faster components within the new devices that actually speed things up if they are faster.

From Apple.com:
This USB 2.0 cable connects your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with Lightning connector to your computer's USB port for syncing and charging or to the Apple USB Power Adapter for convenient charging from a wall outlet.

-Source (Look under Overview)

AppleDeviceUser · Mar 6, 2013

MrXiro said:
Yeah I'm positive it is. I think whoever told you that gave you some bad information.
It's probably faster components within the new devices that actually speed things up if they are faster.

From Apple.com:
This USB 2.0 cable connects your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with Lightning connector to your computer's USB port for syncing and charging or to the Apple USB Power Adapter for convenient charging from a wall outlet.

-Source (Look under Overview)

Thanks, Yeah I know it says USB 2.0, but did you ever think maybe it's a 3.0 and they just didn't mention it? So it seems like "their" USB 2.0 is super fast? I am just wondering why it's so fast compared to all my other USB 2.0 devices.
I hope you didn't think I was rude at all, if so, I am sorry.

MrXiro · Mar 6, 2013

AppleDeviceUser said:
Thanks, Yeah I know it says USB 2.0, but did you ever think maybe it's a 3.0 and they just didn't mention it? So it seems like "their" USB 2.0 is super fast? I am just wondering why it's so fast compared to all my other USB 2.0 devices.
I hope you didn't think I was rude at all, if so, I am sorry.

You're not being rude. I was just answering your question:

Also, was it said anywhere that the cable was USB 2.0? I have a feeling it's 3.0 because it syncs way faster than 30 pin.

It says so on the Apple webpage.

Could be a number of reasons why current gen devices are faster. The biggest reason being faster NAND Flash. I have a USB 2.0 flash drive that is slower than any USB 2.0 5400 rpm hard drive I've ever used. In theory a flash drive should be much faster than an HDD. But definitely not in the case for the ones I have. Also internal components within the new devices might have faster bus speeds.

I'm not sure what was bottlenecking my iPod Touch. It worked as it should after a reset though. I'm exchanging it anyway because I don't want to risk an issue 15 days into owning it. Never had that problem before though.

You can always test your Lightning connected devices on a USB 2.0 equipped computer and see if it's any slower. I see no reason why apple wouldn't list Lightning cables as 3.0 especially since 3.0 is backwards compatible.

Another reason I doubt it's 3.0 is the cable. USB 3.0 cables are a bit thicker. The Lightning cable is the same thickness as the 30-pin

One last reason is; why would Apple not advertise that it's a 3.0 cable? A 3.0 cable is backwards compatible with a 2.0 device and is literally 10X faster! Not advertising it would be like them NOT telling us that newest Macbook is "2X faster!".
Very unlike Apple.

AppleDeviceUser · Mar 6, 2013

MrXiro said:
You're not being rude. I was just answering your question:

It says so on the Apple webpage.

Could be a number of reasons why current gen devices are faster. The biggest reason being faster NAND Flash. I have a USB 2.0 flash drive that is slower than any USB 2.0 5400 rpm hard drive I've ever used. In theory a flash drive should be much faster than an HDD. But definitely not in the case for the ones I have. Also internal components within the new devices might have faster bus speeds.

I'm not sure what was bottlenecking my iPod Touch. It worked as it should after a reset though. I'm exchanging it anyway because I don't want to risk an issue 15 days into owning it. Never had that problem before though.

You can always test your Lightning connected devices on a USB 2.0 equipped computer and see if it's any slower. I see no reason why apple wouldn't list Lightning cables as 3.0 especially since 3.0 is backwards compatible.

Another reason I doubt it's 3.0 is the cable. USB 3.0 cables are a bit thicker. The Lightning cable is the same thickness as the 30-pin

Image

One last reason is; why would Apple not advertise that it's a 3.0 cable? A 3.0 cable is backwards compatible with a 2.0 device and is literally 10X faster! Not advertising it would be like them NOT telling us that newest Macbook is "2X faster!".
Very unlike Apple.

Very true, sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking/hoping it was USB 3.0. I'm glad you got your problem fixed though!

MrXiro · Mar 6, 2013

AppleDeviceUser said:
Very true, sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking/hoping it was USB 3.0. I'm glad you got your problem fixed though!

I bet they'll have USB 3.0 cables in the future.

AppleDeviceUser · Mar 7, 2013

MrXiro said:
I bet they'll have USB 3.0 cables in the future.

Yeah! I hope so.

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