iPod and MP3 players are basically one and the same thing. There is just a difference in brand names. iPod and MP3 players are both portable music player (PMP) devices. The iPod is also commonly known as an MP3 player, Whie MP3 players allow you to store and play music files in MP3 format. So let us check the difference between iPod and MP3.
What is iPod?
Apple Inc, iPod is the brand name of MP3 players manufactured and marketed. iPod has a specific set of features and designs. The range of capabilities and storage capacities on each iPod varies. The iPod comes in a variety of models. On January 9, 2001, apple officially unveiled both the iPod and its iTunes software. Similar to other music players, iPods can be used as portable data storage.
What is MP3?
MP3 is an audio file format that stands for MPEG-1 audio layer 3. It was created in 1980 by Thompson Multimedia and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Digital audio is being shrunk while maintaining the same sound quality thanks to the MP3 audio format. Even a 50MB WAV file can be compressed down to 3 by using MP3 while retaining the same digital sound quality. A variable compression bit rate is not supported by the MP3 compression format. MP3 supports two independent channels and a joint stereo option that minimizes the amount of data required to store the audio stream.
iPod Vs MP3 | Difference between iPod and MP3
- iPods, the music must be purchased from iTunes, whereas, The music for MP3 players can be transferred from any device.
- iPod is manufactured by a specific brand called apple while MP3 players can be manufactured by several brands.
- iPods are the music players of apple that have become very popular but MP3 is an audio codec for storing and playing lossy sound and also the general name for personal music players.
- iPods cannot recognize and play files, in contrast, MP3 players can recognize and play files that are simply dragged and dropped.
- iPods have a scrolling wheel which makes the device handy on the other hand MP3s do not provide any scrolling wheel.
- iPods support many features at the same time such as the transfer of photos, videos, etc, which is not possible in an MP3 player.
- iPods lack the features of expanding memory slots, whereas the memory slots of MP3 players can be expanded.
- iPods use AAC as a default but can play MP3 along with other audio file formats while most MP3 players use MP3 as its default.
- The market for media players is dominated by iPods, with the rest competing for the remaining market share.