Say Goodbye to the iPod as Apple Stops Production after 20 Years
Apple, the leading tech giant has announced that it will stop the production of the iPod Touch, the last model in the lineup of portable music players. The company, in a news post, stated that it will continue to sell the last batch of the current Touch “while supplies last.”
Although the production of the coveted Apple product has stopped, the company says that “the spirit of the iPod will continue to live on” across all devices that support music including the iPad, iPhone, and the HomePod Mini. As the iPod Touch enters its final leg, it will mark the end of an era. Apple rolled out the first-ever iPod a couple of decades ago.
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iPod’s Journey and why Apple has stopped production
As mentioned above, a farewell to the iPod marks the end of a glorious era for music enthusiasts. The first iPod which was equipped with FireWire served as a portable music player. Since then, Apple has launched different models that were more or less exclusive for audio listening until 2017. The company stopped making the iPod Nano and Shuffle in July 2017.
Since then, the iPod Touch has amassed a fan following of iPod enthusiasts, who have embraced the device as a “new classic music player”. Besides, it has also been appreciated by users who were looking for an iPhone-like experience without owning an actual iPhone.
There is no doubt that the iPod Touch had a commendable following. However, Apple’s announcement does not come as a surprise. The latest 7th generation iPod Touch was introduced to the world in 2019 via a press release. While Apple also launched the iPhone 11 that year, the iPod Touch was powered by the A10 processor (used in iPhone 7).
The sixth-generation iPod was released in 2015. Although a lot of users were wishing for a neat, tidy, and simple music device that was built for streaming, that was not the case. Besides, even the time span between the releases of these devices had made it evident that Apple was not looking to invest a lot of time in the iPod.
It is difficult to blame Apple for its dwindling interest in the iPod as consumer behavior has changed over the past decade. Users are not interested in carrying another device that does something their smartphones can do. Tony Fadell, one of the developers of the first iPod said that the entire team was aware of the fact that the iPhone’s popularity would eventually overtake that of the iPod.
It is clear that we will no longer see a new version of the iPod. While many people from around the world are soaking in the news with a pinch of salt, it is probably the right thing to do.
What are your thoughts? Which was your favorite version of the iPod? Leave your comments below and share your thoughts with us.
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