How Long to Sync an iPod?
There’s no set time that an iPod takes to sync. The actual time depends on how many bytes of data need to be transferred. That’s determined by how many files need syncing, and how big those files are. If the files are real big, then it can take quite a long time especially if you have lots of them. USB 2.0 can transfer 480 megabits per second of raw data, or approximately 60 megabytes per second. However, the actual transfer rate is around 40 MBPS, according to everythingusb.com. With this, you could sync 40 minutes of 128kbps bit rate music, in one second. A 16GB Nano would take roughly 15,050 MB / 40 MBPS = 376 seconds or just over five minutes.
However, it will most likely take significantly longer than this because with the 4th generation Nano, you also have to consider the time it takes to build and transfer the voice prompts. Also, as iTunes synchs each file, there’s some overhead that significantly slows things down; opening and closing files, database lookups, hard drive access, and other computer activities. I think my 16GB 4th gen Nano took roughly 12 minutes to completely sync, and I transferred about 13 GB of music.
The speed of the computer and amount of memory it has also affect how long a sync takes. But 30 minutes to sync? There is probably a problem somewhere. However, there’s no patent rule as to how long an iPod takes to sync because its surrounding environment can affect this value so much.
Â
Tom Hesley