Apple has announced that it will be discontinuing the iPod touch which would mark the end of the iPod as a product line. The company posted a press release today in which it was announced that it has integrated music experiences across its products ranging from the iPhone to the Apple Watch.
iPod was originally launched as a “1,000 songs in your pocket” product by Steve Jobs on October 23, 2001. The product saw many iterations including the iPad mini, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, and eventually, the iPod touch.
iPod touch – end of an era
Apple released seven updates to the iPod touch, all of which ran the same iOS, the operating system as the iPhone. The product was initially very popular amongst consumers who did not want a phone, and it was often bought for the younger audience. However, with the release of the iPad, the iPod touch became less of an appealing product.
The iPod touch was also one of the two iOS products, including the iPhone SE, that still featured a physical home button. In terms of iPadOS, Apple still sells the entry-level iPad with a home button.
In the press release, Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing said:
“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 — it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared. Today, the spirit of iPod lives on. 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.”
Most Apple users would fondly remember the iPod as their first Apple product, which eventually led them to buy into the complete Apple ecosystem. It was considered that iPod had a halo effect, which is a term used for getting consumers to buy a company’s product due to the positive experience from another one. iPhone later took on as the halo product from Apple, which convinced a lot more users to move to the Apple ecosystem.
Apple will continue to sell iPod touch until stocks sell out. While it could be considered an end of an era, the writing was on the wall for iPods for some time. Apple did not update the iPod touch as regularly as other products like iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. Users looking to get a cheap iOS device will have to look towards the entry-level $329 iPad.
