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Apple announced on Tuesday that it would stop producing the last iPod model it still sells, ultimately ending the famous product line that helped the music business and Apple usher in a new age.
Customers can still buy an iPod touch “while supplies last,” according to Apple. According to the company, customers may now listen to their favorite tunes on a variety of Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
“Bringing music to hundreds of millions of people in the way that the device did influenced more than just the music industry—it also transformed how music is discovered, listened to, and shared,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, in a statement.
“Today, the essence of the iPod lives on,” Joswiak continued, highlighting how the iPod’s music experience has been blended into “all of our products.”
The iPod, which was first introduced in 2001 by Apple cofounder and then-CEO Steve Jobs, helped kick off Apple’s extraordinary success with handheld devices. The device’scharacteristic scroll wheel and the initial promise of “up to 1,000 CD-quality tunes” on a gadget that fits in your pocket lured people in.
The company said at the time that it was a groundbreaking MP3 music player that packs up to 1,000 CD-quality tracks into an ultra-portable, 6.5-ounce design that fits in your pocket.
More than 100 million iPods had been sold by mid-2007. The iPhone, which was, in many respects, the spiritual heir to the iPod Touch, was released the same year. Long before it was formally retired, the smartphone and other Apple gadgets had made the iPod feel like a relic of the past. In 2007, the iPhone’s first year, the iPod became the iPod Touch. The most recent iPod model, the iPod Touch, debuted in 2019 and cost only $199.
This is only the latest in Apple’s transformation. In 2019, the firm disbanded iTunes, which had previously been able to play music, podcasts, and videos. Songs are now downloaded through iTunes.
