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Apple Discontinues iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle

I figured something like this might happen at some point, so a few months ago I bought a nano just in case. Now I'm very glad I did. When my ol' iPod classic gives up the ghost from doing duty in the car (in the hot Texas sun), I'll have the nano ready to go. Hopefully I'll still be able to rebuild the classic with flash and new battery at that time.
 
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The Apple Watch is pretty rad for exercise, as long as you have play/pause, and volume controls on your headset. If not, it's a joke to try and adjust those parameters on a watch. Also, the shuffle can be waterproofed for $50 and used while swimming (I swim everyday at lunch with a shuffle, life is like 100x better with this option). On the watch unfortunately, you can't transmit bluetooth underwater...
 
Maybe alongside the iPhone announcement they'll launch an affordable nanoesque iPod which is solely tied into Apple Music. Would make perfect sense in filling the void for a cheaper iPod and gaining more Apple Music subscriptions.
 
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Deadeyeshark said:
Maybe alongside the iPhone announcement they'll launch an affordable nanoesque iPod which is solely tied into Apple Music. Would make perfect sense in filling the void for a cheaper iPod and gaining more Apple Music subscriptions.
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This I could go for. I look at my 7th gen nano and think AM would be so cool on it although I don't mind syncing it once in awhile now to pick up a different selecton from my owned iTunes stuff.


xitongzou said:
Why though? its not like the iPhone is a good replacement for the nano and especially the shuffle. Its tiny and easy to use when jogging or running. What are we supposed to use now? Apple Watch?
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That's what I was thinking and I'm not going there. Love the radio in my 7th gen nano, has come in handy a few times... and I clip on a shuffle for at least part of most days. I'll use them while they work and then see where Apple's gone in the meantime.
 
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sracer said:
There are also us oddball dinosaurs who like to have physical buttons for volume and track playback control.
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I seem to recall seeing some iPod models with a third button between the side mounted volume up/down buttons, which operated just like the middle button on Apple-compatible earbuds: click for play/pause, double click for track forward, triple-click for track back (and, presumably hold for Siri if the device supports it).

I would dearly love to see Apple add this to the iPhone (yeah, I know it's a forlorn hope). I've had many times I've been out and about, listening to music or a podcast while using the phone, and suddenly want to stop the music right now - I have to either scramble to locate the buttons on the cord (if I had AirPods it'd mean reaching up and pulling me out), or scrambling to bring up Control Center to hit pause. Particularly with Apple pointing to non-corded headphones as the way of the future, it'd be awfully nice to have a full-time tactile hardware pause button right there under my thumb.

But, even though it'd be very useful, it'd mean explaining he "middle volume button" to tens of millions of consumers. Sigh.
 
LizKat said:
tbh i use an iPod touch more than I use my iPhone, although perhaps only because I live in a dead zone. I keep podcasts and TV shows on it, plus a selection of music I update a couple times a year. Fifth gen iPod touch so slim without a case, silver and white = Apple at peak elegance.
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I agree, hence quotes. Apple's reasoning, not mine.
 
markfc said:
Having just upgraded my 60GB iPod Video to a 256GB SD I really wish Apple would release a new iPod with click wheel.
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Was it easy to do? I have a 5.5 gen 30Gb model that's still going great, but more and faster storage wouldn't hurt.
 
I have a 2nd gen 8GB nano and a 5th gen 16GB nano (both Product Red) as well as a 2nd gen 1GB shuffle (orange) in my Apple "museum", a clear flat box. It's actually been a couple of years since I even turned them on to see if they still work. End of an era indeed. Next on the list, the iPod touch and my 3rd gen 64GB iPod touch concurs.
 
KingSH007 said:
My first Apple product was a 3rd gen iPod Nano (which I still use today!). It brought me into the Apple ecosystem, and it showed me the elegance of their products. Thanks to that iPod, I am now a proud owner of several iPod Touches, iPhones and Macbooks.

Thank you Apple, for making such a great product, a product that truly changed music as we know it.
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Like you, my first Apple product was the 3rd Gen Nano (the fattie). Loved it and bought an iPhone 3GS not too long after. The fattie is still working fine after a decade of use as my exercise music player. It also went to Rome where I had Rick Steves guide podcasts to listen to as I toured the city and the Vatican.

Just to be safe I went ahead and ordered an 8th gen Nano from Best Buy as soon as I saw the cancellation. There simply isn't anything comparable.
 
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Waughy said:
Was it easy to do? I have a 5.5 gen 30Gb model that's still going great, but more and faster storage wouldn't hurt.
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If you can get the iPod open then it's easy. ;-)

Honestly opening it the hardest bit but it's fairly easy with a plastic spudger. Then it's just being careful with the connectors.

Ifixit is a great help!
 
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This isn't a sad day. This is final proof that no one could beat Apple at portable music. iPod killer after iPod killer came and went and finally after all this time the only thing that could kill the iPod is Apple.

You hand a good run iPod, may you RiP..

My question is why doesn't Apple kill off the iPod Touch as well? Seriously, how much would it cost to put the extra circuitry in to make a iPod Touch into a phone? They could sell these devices without service and allow people to take it to a carrier if they wanted. We all know the technology is there to make a 32 Gig iPhone for $200 and still make a profit.

They could drop the iPhone SE make this new device the entry level mobile device and simplify their product line.
 
lostngone said:
This isn't a sad day. This is final proof that no one could beat Apple at portable music. iPod killer after iPod killer came and went and finally after all this time the only thing that could kill the iPod is Apple.

You hand a good run iPod, may you RiP..

My question is why doesn't Apple kill off the iPod Touch as well? Seriously, how much would it cost to put the extra circuitry in to make a iPod Touch into a phone? They could sell these devices without service and allow people to take it to a carrier if they wanted. We all know the technology is there to make a 32 Gig iPhone for $200 and still make a profit.

They could drop the iPhone SE make this new device the entry level mobile device and simplify their product line.
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The iPhone SE is about the only Apple phone - or any kind of a smart phone that I would ever consider buying.

I like the size, and the straightforwardness of the device.

But, for music, I want a device that plays music - and does that well - and nothing else.

SusanK said:
Not leverage. The watch is invisible in the real. The discontinued iPods were useful to many.

Comment about Cook is not snark. Apple lacks innovation. Popular items are discontinued in an attempt to force sales of things that people may not be as enthusiastic about. If you like the watch that's good. Others like something different.

Killing off the MBA 11 was obviously an attempt to force sales of the portless MB with the weird keyboard. Buy all that if you like it.

BTW watchbands are not innovation.
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Agree.
 
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They did not update them for years. Of course the sale will decline. They should have lowered the price of Shuffle with at least 8 GB storage. The Apple Watch is a replacement of Shuffle, sort of.
 
This literally makes zero sense.
People buying an iPod touch will probably go for an iPhone instead despite the gigantic price difference. However, as for the iPod Shuffle and Nano, I think that people bought it because they wanted something portable they could use to listen to music while running, hiking, etc... instead of looking like idiots with those massive arm bands. Unless you're a tall guy/girl, and those arm bands don't make you look like as if you are running with an iPad.

I love my shuffle, and as it's getting old I was thinking about buying a new one. I guess if apple would bet on building a small device we could listen to music from, that would be just awesome. Reinventing the iPod can't be that difficult, can't it?
 
TechZeke said:
Apple Watch even replaces the shuffle for that use case, though. Sure, shuffle was way cheaper than an Apple Watch, but no one was buying them. I haven't seen a shuffle in the wild in at least half a decade.
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The sale was slow, because Apple did not update them even once in at least last 5 years.
 
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