William Gallagher
Apple's final iPod, the venerable iPod touch, has been discontinued and will not be replaced once stocks have run out.
It hasn't been updated since 2019, but the iPod touch was not just the final iPod, it has also been the lower-cost gateway to iOS for many users.
"Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry," Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said in a statement, "it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared."
"Today, the spirit of iPod lives on," he continued. "We've integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV. And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio — there's no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music."
Apple's iPod range was supplanted by its iPhone, which for a time even called its Music app "iPod." Introduced in 2007, shortly after the iPhone, the iPod touch presented a full iOS experience to users.
Aside from making calls, it was capable of running all the same apps as the iPhone, but with a price of $199 — and also no monthly carrier fee.
With the demise of the iPod touch, Apple's lowest-cost entry to iOS is now the iPhone SE, which starts at $429.
Third-party resellers, including Amazon and B&H Photo Video, still have inventory available, with the best iPod prices at press time starting at $189.99.
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20 Comments
Very fond memories of the iPod. We got our first one to play music in the car. It was far cheaper than a CD changer and held more. That was so good we got a string of other ones, each better then the last. My wife had a Nano that she wore on a watch band. she had an AppleWatch about a decade before they actual ones came out. I got a forth gen iPod Touch to augment the feature phone I was using. After a series of early devices with miserable touch screens it was an eye opener. I likely would not have gotten an iPhone without the experience of my iPT. Very fond memories of the iPod line.
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It was a great run for a breakthrough product. When I shared my vision with Tony Fadell back in 1999 he ran with it and made it happen. Probably saved Apple too!
Great job everyone.
I loved my iPod Video, the stark difference from CD was amazing!
After my first iPhone, the iPhone 4S, I never touched another iPod.
I am not surprised to see it go as they were reasonably good value. I have noticed them used quite heavily in the commercial/industrial sector – by waiting staff in restaurants to take orders, and supermarket staff for example where simple wifi devices are needed.
it makes sense for apple to block these customers from getting away with using cheaper products and pump them for more money by forcing them to spend more for iphone or ipad devices.
end of the day. all about the shareholders.
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i just checked the cheapest iPhone is double the cost of the cheapest iPod touch. thats good numbers for apple if they can force customers up that road..
will never forget my first road trip with the Gen1 iPod on shuffle mode connected to my car stereo though a cassette adapter. "I love this song!.... I love this song!... I love this song!" of course I did.. it was my own music library being played back to me from a device no bigger than a deck of cards. amazing, transformative experience. Steve Jobs and team knew what they were doing. Delivering an amazing customer experience. Kudos to all involved. What a success.