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Wow. The 3rd generation iPod Nano (2007) was my first ever Apple product.

I wonder what this means for the iTunes Store brand now. I’m surprised they haven’t put the option to purchase music inside the Apple Music app & rebranded the subscription service as Apple Music+. They’ve added the TV/Film part of the iTunes Store to the Apple TV app, so why not do the same here?

I’m still a bit annoyed that they aren’t giving people the option to upgrade their iTunes purchases to lossless/Dolby Atmos versions, encouraging people to pay a subscription for music. I don’t like that some of my songs sound better than others. I hope they don’t completely kill off the option to purchase music, even if I do subscribe to Apple Music now.
 
Literally just picked up the base model just now so I can hold onto it (sealed). I loved these devices. Hadn't had on in YEARS due to the iPhone, but loved this device anyway. Great while it lasted.
 
This makes a of of sense at this point. It’s still sad to see for me, because the iPod remains a vital piece of hardware in the way I enjoy music today. I used an iPod touch as my “phone” starting in 2008 with the 2nd Gen and then a 4th Gen, and then a 6th Gen, until 2017 when I got a used iPhone 6 to use as a real phone finally. If they had kept the iPod touch more up to date with modern specs and features, it could have continued longer I’m sure, but at this point, it wasn’t useful enough to enough people.

End of an era. :(
 
It made a great HomeKit remote. I guess iPad mini is the best option now? It’s a bit bulky…
 
Is there really no longer a market for a music player for those who do not want or need an iPhone? As the iPod touch was getting long in the tooth, I was hoping for a new 'back to basics' and revamped iPod with a classic throwback design - but with a great display and SSD storage. A great little music and streaming device that can play via AirPlay and to connected (HomePod and the like) speakers. Hard to believe they'd let an iconic brand name and product die. I guess they'd know best, and want any remaining potential iPod buyers to get an iPhone or iPad.
It's more not ENOUGH of a market, and much of that market is for very high or lossless quality
 
I find it depressing that there is so much consolidation

Devices that specialize are really great actually
They can be but the iPod didn't really specialize, more "it only" did music. If it had a much higher quality DAC, supported more audio types, ect then it would have more relevance.
 
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The iPod Touch enabled you to own your own music, and 'plug' it into your car and have iOS and a touch screen with all those apps. You could have what ever phone you wanted and change it as much as you like because your iPod Touch would store your music. You could, gosh, plug in headphones.
I sold my iPod Touch to help pay for my first Apple Watch, only to discover I couldn't connect the watch over Bluetooth to my car stereo as I needed it to accept a 6 digit code for paring. So I had to resort to my old iPod Nano 3rd gen which, I still have, for a while.
Now I just stream on my iPhone but it still cuts out when it loses signal.

So IMO their is still a market for the iPod Touch, albeit a decreasing one, and telling people to spend $300 on an Apple Watch and $150 on a pair of headphones must be the ultimate upswell to replace a $200 dollar with headphones iPod Touch. Oh and of course the Apple Watch is next to totally useless without an iPhone to use it with anyway...
You can load music onto your iPhone. I do not stream anything, everything I listen to in the car is loaded directly onto my iPhone and it works fine, except for some podcasts.

I travel through areas with zero signal often enough that streaming is just throwing money into the fire.
 
The iPod was my favourite (ever) Apple device, (okay, my 11" MBA runs it a close second), and my introduction to the world of Apple.

I love the iPod, and am really sorry to see that it has been discontinued.

Seamless connectivity isn't everything.
 
I had sort of held out hope that there was at least one more revision coming down the line, purely for nostalgia's sake. I haven't actually bought or used an iPod in probably 10 years or more. I don't even thing it was something I noticed, tbh. As iPhone capacity increased, my need to use the iPod decreased until it just became a relic sitting in a drawer. I do still think about my 3rd gen on occasion though.
 
I was at clothing store Zara yesterday and they use iPod touch devices
I work for a big retail company and I am responsible among other IT things for asset management, I was about to make an order of hundreds of iPods but then a different department decided that they also want the retail employees to have a telephone number "just in case" so we went with iPhones. I was like "what a waste of money". In case anyone is confused iPod touch is basically the prefect PDA for 2022. Well, was*.
 
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To me, iPod touch is iPhone without cellular. Outside limited commercial niche use cases, its necessity became increasingly questionable as the market is flooded with refurbished unlocked iPhone SEs (2nd gen) in the same price point.

The use case iPhones don't cover is as a kids device.
An iPhone, even without a service plan, can still call emergency services (911, etc).

Children can master the use of a camera app, Facetime, eBooks, etc, waaaay before they understand the consequences of that SOS slider. Not having cellular capability at a hardware level was a huge benefit to the iPod Touch.
 
That’s because it is.
iPod was my college years, but now that's gone, my local mall was torn down, Elementary and Middle schools torn down and replaced, most the stores I went to are closed, or replaced, or a shadow of themselves, my first 2 cars no longer exist (Taurus, and Escort). My first PC brand is defunct (Compaq). It more and more feels like Coke, Ford, Apple, and Microsoft are the only brands that have had an impact on my life and are still around in strength. And I was only born in the early 80's.
 
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You're certainly allowed that opinion, but most people are happier to have the functionality of an iPod built into their phone, rather than carry around two separate devices.

There's a lot of truth to that for those who want the functionality of an iPod built into their phones, but overlooks my point about those who prefer a music playing device whose controls are dedicated for...playing music. An iPod classic connected to the car for accessing/controlling music is much better than using an iPhone. The iPhone can stay in my pocket or car dock to do all the iPhone-y stuff.

An iPod in an iPhone form factor adds in all kinds of non-music-related usefulness to the iPod while diminishing the things that made an iPod great for...playing music.
 
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Too bad. In Japan, the iPod touch is used in Olympic archery events as a WiFi target scoring device using software and protective cases developed by Seiko (at great expense). One per target, typically 64 targets. I suppose that there will be enough devices available for a while to keep the system going, but sooner or later they’ll probably have to use Android tablets or similarly cheap devices.
 
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I'm tempted to get one for my 6 year old son so I can load some podcasts and music on it. Still seems like a good deal if you're not ready for your kids to have a phone or get on the internet...
I totally get it. I do think that it’s a better investment, though, if it’s within your budget, to get an iPhone SE. Don’t activate cellular, it has the newest chip, etc. More expensive, but it’s a purchase that will last and you can activate cellular when the time is right. An iPhone without a cellular contract is an iPod touch :)
 
Still have my 7th Gen I use in the gym for weight training. Even though the battery efficiency is actually relatively poor, I’m impressed with how well it performs, and it’s so lightweight in a small form factor.

Literally, when you hold one of the new iPhones compared to the iPod Touch, it’s almost refreshing to feel something that light and small again.
 
So what do parents like me who have kids under 10 years old buy for a portable "music player"?! Is Apple expecting me to drop $1000 on an iPhone? No. Bleeping. Way. $500+ for an iPad Mini? Nope. An iPad? Nope...it's too big to act as a portable music player (on the beach, walking, etc.). $429+ for an iPhone SE? Nope.

I think Apple's missing a huge audience. iPod Touch may not sell well compared to iPhones and iPads, but partly that blame is:
  • Apple has hidden iPod Touch on its website for years
  • Apple hasn't updated iPod Touch in 3 years
  • iPod Touch hasn't dropped in price in 3 years
  • iPod Touch looks/feels/seems terrible compared to an iPhone SE

This was easily planned to get you/us to buy far more expensive devices. I don't want to go looking for refurbished devices to get me somewhere within a reasonable price point.
Perhaps consider buying an iPod before they’re out of stock. Quick, go get one! Sounds like it will meet your needs!
 
I find it depressing that there is so much consolidation

Devices that specialize are really great actually
Not at the scale apple manufactured, unfortunately. Niche products that don’t sell at the volume Apple needs are always going to lose out to the volume products. This isn't the same apple as 15, 10 or even 5 years ago. It’s lamentable to a point, but the iPod touch needed to go, or be replaced by something larger and more robust. Apple wants that to be an iPhone, for better or worse.
 
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I worked at a place that used iPod Touches mounted in an IR scanner sled for stock control (I worked on developing the in-house software that made it all work).

I wonder what those guys are going to do when they need to replace those devices? An iPhone would be massive overkill and an iPad too big.
 
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