Today’s iPod refresh came as an odd surprise to some and maybe even a long-awaited update to others. Now that the iPod line is finally up-to-date after being dormant for a few years, you might even be considering buying one.
Regardless of how you feel, do yourself a favor: Don’t buy one.
Yes, Apple upgraded the line, beefing up the iPod touch hardware and coating the iPod nano and iPod shuffle in new color options, but in 2015 odds are you can save money or at least spend it more wisely than on an iPod. There are a few key reasons why you shouldn’t buy one — and why Apple probably doesn’t care all that much if you don’t.
Apple Music isn’t available for iPod nano or iPod shuffle
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Did you want access to the recently launched Apple Music from your iPod? Unless you buy an iPod touch, you’re out of luck. Neither the iPod nano nor iPod shuffle supports streaming from Apple Music as part of your monthly subscription.
That means you’ll have to go old-school and purchase songs individually or as albums from the iTunes Store to listen on these devices (or rip your CDs). You’d think Apple would enable its new music service across its entire line of music players, but that brings me to my next point…
Apple just doesn’t care about iPods anymore
Photo: Apple
I know plenty of people are going to disagree with this, given that the iPods were updated at all, but hear me out. Today’s update was extremely half-baked. The 8MP camera and A8 processor in the iPod touch is more than welcome, but the device is still far from being on par with the iPhone.
Apple didn’t add a 4.7-inch display to the iPod touch like the iPhone 6 has, and an even worse sign is what didn’t come to the iPod nano: an iOS 7-inspired redesign. The iPod nano is still running software that mimics iOS 6 and earlier, with shiny buttons and thicker fonts.
Apple didn’t care enough to update the iPod nano’s software and bring it to the same level as the iPod touch or iPhone with Apple’s reimagined design philosophy. I doubt that the iPod nano’s software will ever get this update if it didn’t already get it today.
Even the new colors are pretty uninspired. iPod used to be Apple’s most vibrant product line. Remember the wide assortment of color options for the old iPod nanos? Now the iPods all come in the standard three colors for iPhone and iPad plus the typically gender-oriented blue and pink.
Apple Music is coming to Android soon
Photo: Apple
If you have an Android smartphone and you wanted an iPod as a supplement for music, just wait until Apple Music comes out on your platform of choice. Apple’s new streaming service arrives on Android this fall, so if you’re looking to buy an iPod just for easier access to iTunes and the iTunes Store, hold off.
Apple Music gives you most of what you’re probably looking for in the iTunes library for $10 per month. Since it’ll soon be available on your Android phone, there’s no need to buy a separate gadget for holding your music. Just use your smartphone.
Plus if you don’t want to hold out for Apple Music, you can always sign up for Google Music or Spotify for the same price, both of which already have Android apps in Google Play.
If you don’t own a smartphone now, you will
Photo: Apple
The last set of people who want an iPod are most likely those who still carry around a basic cell phone instead of a smartphone and therefore need a dedicated music player. To you I say, you’ll have a smartphone eventually. The smartphone adoption rate in the United States has been faster than any other new technological adoption in history. Somewhere down the line all of you basic phone owners will have a more capable device, even if that only means it can hold more music.
Don’t shell out potentially hundreds of dollars now on an iPod when someone is going to convince you pretty soon that it’s time to get a better phone instead.
Apple is only selling iPods now for the very small market of people who still think it’s necessary to buy one, but you’re better than that. If you’re reading this, there’s a solid chance you already own an iOS or Android device that caters beautifully to your musical needs. Plus, why would you buy an Apple product that Apple barely puts any effort into, especially since two out of the three models don’t support Apple Music?
The bottom line: Invest in a fully featured smartphone, not a half-baked music player that’s hanging by a thread.
George Tinari has covered Apple and technology for over six years. On the rare occasion that he’s not sitting in front of his laptop, you can find him eating, awkwardly socializing, listening to music or singing along loudly to said music. You can also follow George on Twitter if you need more complaints and sarcasm in your timeline.
76 responses to “Why you should never buy an iPod ever again”
Just because it doesn’t suit you, doesn’t mean it doesn’t suit others. The iPod touch is great as a cheaper games machine to give to kids, and this update hugely improves its performance for games.
+1
Exactly. Bought a blue 128GB touch fifteen minutes after they were announced for my son to play games on.
so you just spent around 400$ dollars on an ipod? why didnt you just spend 50$ more and buy an ipad? i mean the bigger the screen the better to play games on..
5. things.
1. Most games are designed to be used with 2 thumbs on a small form factor screen so you can reach the whole screen with your thumbs while holding the device in 2 hands.
2. A $400 ipad has 16GB of storage. That fills up fast when you’re using it the way a kid would, loading tons of games and music.
3. An iPad has a higher resolution screen which means games won’t perform as well as on the iPod.
4. None of the iPad mini models have this generation of processor, so it won’t be as fast. You would need to get an iPad Air 2, which would cost $700 for the 128GB model. The iPad mini 3 with the slower processor would cost $600 for the 128GB model.
5. An iPad isn’t pocketable. Kids want to take their games with them everywhere and with an iPad, it means an extra thing to carry. Being able to put it in your pocket makes it way more convenient.
Hear, hear.
Thesis of this article “If you’re an android user who wants apple music then don’t bother buying an iPod” This article is targeting a very specific reader base and quite frankly it isn’t one who spends a lot of time on CULT of mac. Really weird choice to run this article guys.
iPod has run it’s course. Apple if they would pull their head out of their arses would have realized that by now.
Wrong. The continued existence of the iPod line up is part of a broader long term marketing strategy. Most notably, the iPod touch is for kids to get hooked on the iOS ecosystem and become iPhone users when they grow up.
EXACTLY! call me old fashioned, but I don’t think kids need phones before they’re at least 16. My kids won’t have them anyway. I still would like them to be able to enjoy music and a couple games without my wife or I having to give them our iPhones.
Maybe not 16, more like 13-ish. You would be amazed about how many kids under 12 I see running around with up to iPhone 5s’s -.-
Yes and more every day
Ok, your old fashion, but kids that don’t have the latest tech stuff when they are growing up will be like some of us old timers that never had a computer when growing up and had to get with the program in their 40’s just to keep up with the changing times.
If they have an iPod touch they won’t be the behind the times. They can learn how to use an iPhone by using their iPod touch.
Kids don’t want iPods they want smartphone with apps and play games and can do crap with. I would.
An iPod touch is basically an iPhone without the cellular hardware. It does everything an iPhone does except make phone calls.
The iPod Touch is ideal for kids and gaming. No way am I buying an iPhone for a little one just to play games on. It’s a great entry level device.
Exactly. The iPod Touch is an entry level device for kids to play games.
This is an idiotic conclusion. I like having the iPod for several reasons. It stays in my car and I don’t have to keep taking it in and out. Second I have a huge music collection. While it may be vogue to stream everything, streaming requires a connection and data which in turn costs money. A connection is not always available. Lastly and most importantly, neither beats or apple music have anything to offer from my standpoint. I am happy with the match option and using my own music. so, just because you have no interest in a new iPod I’m frankly gleeful and will be buying the 128 GB version soon.
I have a huge music collection too and hate streaming, thats why I bought a 128gb 6Plus. It gets the job done.
If you’re an iTunes Match subscriber with a big library you can definitely download those tunes for offline or for your iPod. The iPod Touch is the better choice, but it would make for a fine workout companion for many people.
Give that this has the same A8 chip as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+, but with a smaller screen to drive it should give better gaming performance than either of them.
“Why you should never buy an iPod ever again”
Sheer hyperbole. This kind of biased statement and position is obviously the work of a opinionated, and probably young reviewer. There are many reasons someone will want new (and older) Apple iPods. As solublepeter below said, it may not suit •you•, but it fits others needs perfectly. Why rain on so many parades for no reason?
Heaven forfend that opinion pieces be written by someone who is opinionated. Or, worse yet, young!
That’s not a fair assessment of my comment, and you know it. And if not, then •you’re• too young to understand. The article is an unfair, sweeping indictment of a well-regarded piece of technology that helped change the entire music industry, and make Apple a corporate and electronic juggernaut. There is a big difference between “opinion” and “opiniation”, and the latter does not belong in a review by an experienced writer. Perhaps I misspoke. Age is not the issue, but rather experience. However, they do often go hand-in-hand.
Apple Music Downloads will still work on smaller iPods, not the streaming. Still makes it better than spotify or pandora which won’t work on those at all. Apple kept the screen size small by design, since people like its portability. And not everyone has or will get a smartphone. Its still a good pick.
No, it does not work on the smaller iPods. Ask Google.
This biased piece also fails to take into consideration the vast number of people who want music while they are working out or running but don’t want a heavy phone jangling in their pocket or strapped to their arm. The old-school nano is perfect for working out; it clips to your collar or anywhere really and holds tons of music.
Further, if I’m on a long plane ride I don’t want to eat up precious phone battery listening to music. Again, old non-connective iPods are perfect for this and many other situations. I have more than 12000 songs uploaded onto 4 different iPod models, two of which are very old bricks, and I still use them. I can turn it on, plug it into my speakers and ‘stream’ for days without hitting the same song twice – at zero cost.
IPod Touch is a good solution for travel if you don’t need, or would not have available, cell service. I recently traveled to japan and 5 people shared a Celular > WiFi hotspot. Ipod touch wold be a good solution for updating friends and family with text and pictures in a form factor that is lighter and more compact. Frankly, when traveling, the lack of a phone can greatly enhance you enjoyment.
Half baked? The greatest selling music player of all time, is, ahem, half baked??
I wouldn’t want to use an (i)Phone or touch iPod touch or anything similar at the gym. Cost is to high if damaged and they’re too bulky. Bought a 16 GB Nano a few weeks before xmas and I love it. Would have preferred to replace it with the square Nano with clip, but anything bigger than the current Nano would be cumbersome.
If you look at the author bios, it’s obvious he doesn’t go to the gym, or have kids. Narrow minded people don’t know what they don’t know.
Or have a clue
Slightly ironic comment there.
I think people are seriously misunderstanding the aim for these products. They are no longer intended for adults. These are entirely aimed at young kids who have no business owning a smartphone. For some people to act like Apple has no business making these anymore and should just give up are not realizing how great these products are for young kids. This refresh just made them more powerful and able to keep up new technology.
Also as a side note most marathons do not allow smartphones during the event, so having an iPod solves the need for music. That’s a very niche market, but further reinforced my point.
You are right. I agree.
But the colors are weird tho. They are very mature-looking to be targetting for kids. Wished we could have a more vibrant range of colors like Apple used to have in the past.
my wife and kids have iPhones but I do not need/want one since I always have either wifi access or no connection of any kind. I only need to stream my music from my mac or enough capacity to fit my music library. Until we have data access 24/7 whatever location on the globe, streaming music is not a viable option and iPods with lot of storage are needed. I finally gonna replace my Classic but if Apple wants more money from me, here is main problem with the new iPod Touch: no support for the watch (and still no support using a Mac or iPad) hence still no watch for me…..
I have an android phone and I will be upgrading to another android phone, the entire reason I want an ipod nano is because it’s small, cheap and no bullshit music device. It has no app store – PERFECT!, it’s battery lasts for days – NICE!, and the final one is what I am hoping to see – I can just drag and drop my music files to it.
If the last one is possible – they have me as a customer
LOL it does have an app store…. the same one the iPhone and iPad share.
I am talking about the iPod nano. That’s not coming with an app store. (and not even apple music I believe)
Unfortunately you can’t just drag and drop music onto an ipod. You need to import the music into itunes on your PC or Mac, then you need to choose/sync the music to the ipod using itunes. It’s just a little more hassle than dragging and dropping. You also might need to edit the music files metadata in itunes before syncing to make the sorting more organized on your ipod. (So you can sort your music by Artist, Title, Album, Genre, etc)
You absolutely can drag and drop from your library…I do it daily…
Thanks for letting me know.
He means you can drag and drop them in itunes… You still need to use itunes. You can’t drag/drop them through windows explorer.
oh wow, that’s good to know. I decided on getting the iPod touch instead.
You may be able to do it in itunes, but first you need to get your files into itunes. SMH
The point I’m making is you need to use itunes. You can’t just drag and drop the files in windows explorer.
Hi my name is Al. I really don’t care what my iPod Touch would look like, as long as I can do what I want it to do, I am happy. The iPhone yes is nice, BUT!, Not everyone is able to afford an almost $800 iPhone. If you have a cheap Pre-Paid phone that has a hot spot feature, (like mine does), I use that hotspot feature to listen to the Apple Music Streaming service. So next time you guys create a post like this, think of the economics before trying to pursue someone to buy an iPhone first. Some people would be happier with an iPod Touch. I know I am.
I wanted that iPod Classic and was almost ready to get one when Apple pulled it off their shelves.
I want an iPod nano for the built-in radio. Music and news I don’t have to pay for!!
But I want it in that teal blue that it came in last year. Is that still available? None of these new colors speak to me like those older ones did!
I teach 6th graders. They all have iPods. Parents don’t want to get them iPhones just yet and it has everything they actually need: Instagram, Snapchat, iMessage, selfies, music, and games.
Which is, ironically, everything that a parent should be worried about a 6th grader having access to! ;)
I use my nano daily for audiobooks. I charge it every month or so. My 3 kids have iPod touches and love them for games, books and Netflix. This upgrade will be nice for my oldest who plays the more graphic intensive games.
You’re overlooking the massive demographic of kids.
My young son wants a iPhone (mostly for games), but I’m not ready for him to have a phone in his pocket with Internet access everywhere, not to mention the monthly access fee needed.
So the iPod Touch is the perfect device for me to give him, and millions of parents out there with younger kids feel the same.
You’re missing the point. iPods are for kids, and that market is huge.
Another article written by a tech nerd out of touch with the rest of the world. Compared to a $750 iPhone plus plan which costs $50/mo for a total of almost $2000 over 2 years I can get my kids $300 iPod Touches. Unfortunately tech columnists assume we have nothing better to do with our money than spend it on cell phone plans for children.
Poorly done Cult of Mac. Very poor.
Your mentality is that music is disposable, and a lot is heavy bass and third grade rhyming and streaming is perfect for that kind of mindless consumerism.
Some people appreciate real musicianship and quality, enough to want to own and play over a good or great system!
Audiophiles don’t buy ipods, to be fair.
They sure do, old ones. Try to find a first generation Color Classic 80 Gb for sale for a reasonable price. The DAC chip in that thing is awesome. I stream music in my car when driving, because the background noise from all the other electronics in the phone doesn’t really matter. But if I’m listening through headphones at work the old iPod with a real spinning hard drive in it is the only way to go.
I heard you out, and still disagree. The angle of this article ignores a lot of other use-cases for the iPod.
Kids who aren’t old enough for an iPhone. iPod for running. iPod for the car (I have one that stays permanently in my car).
Also, it’s not just about Apple Music. I don’t use Apple Music – it’s not my thing. So the fact that it doesn’t have Apple Music doesn’t bother me at all…
We still sell quite a few of these in our retail location. Mostly for athletes and people with kids. There is still a market. Trust me.
Hogwash!. The iPod Touch is perfect for my 6-year-old to play games, watch video and listen to her music. Article’s tone seemed a bit condescending to iPod afficienados.
I will use the iPod for filming work events, periscoping live feeds and taking pics… not to mention tweeting for work and other things… don’t want to have to use my personal phone for that!
I have an iPhone 5 and iPod touch, which satisfy my needs for both mobility with cellular and music and gaming, quite a contradiction to what the author stated above. iPod touch takes aim at mobile gamers (it needs some battery boost though) and kids who are not ready to own a phone yet. I think iPod touch is still very worthwhile, unlike iPod nano and Shuffle, they should be eliminated sooner or later given Apple Music is due very soon.
“Apple didn’t add a 4.7-inch display to the iPod touch like the iPhone 6 has, and an even ‘worse’ sign is what didn’t come to the iPod nano: an iOS 7-inspired redesign. The iPod nano is still running software that mimics iOS 6 and earlier, with shiny buttons and thicker fonts.”
And that is a GOOD THING since the iOS 7 “design” is complete and utter crap and overall a horrible eye-sore. I could only imagine Steve Jobs rolling in his grave knowing that the beautiful design he created in the original iOS design is completely ruined by the horrible iOS 7 “redesign.”
Original iOS Design:
Shiny Buttons = Good
Thicker Fonts = Good
Shaded Graphics for added depth = Good
Gratuitous use of color = Good
Skeuomorphism = Good
New iOS 7 “Design”:
Borderless Buttons = Bad
Thin Fonts = Bad
Flat/lifeless and overly simplistic graphics = Bad
Nearly monochromatic with very little use of color = Bad
Flat, plain and dull design = Bad
Keep in mind, just because Apple claims something (like the iOS 7 “design”) is “beautiful” doesn’t make it actually beautiful, and just because something is new doesn’t make it good…
This is the idiotic article of the day!! Just another click bait. I’m 100% sure that he doesn’t believe any of his own words!!
Although this device is probably not for the masses it still has a niche. Not everyone wants to spend an additional $120 a year, not everyone wants to listen to what Apple wants you to hear, not everyone wants internet connection. Think about the military and folks in remote locations where internet does not exist. The device will always have a future as long as men and now woman sleep on submarines and fight Americas wars so folks like you can listen to your fancy internet connected devices!
ipod nano is much smaller than any smartphone and tbh i prefer not being online a lot of the time. Actually, the less time I spend online, the happier I am.
I loved my recently departed iPod Classic. I should have bought another when they were discontinued. I like having a massive HDD with ALL my music/podcasts on it and not just a selection. I like the way the the iPod just does one thing really well…like my Kindle. I don’t want to fill up my phone with music and podcasts or indeed use its battery up listening to them.
“The bottom line: Invest in a fully featured smartphone, not a half-baked music player that’s hanging by a thread.”…. man, what a dumbass comment to make!
Doesn’t the author realise that people who buy iPods [especially for their kids] don’t want to have to pay the ridiculous contract charges that come with them.
Have you ever considered that there are people who don’t want to use their smartphones for playing music? There are a number of reasons for that. Of the top of my head – battery power, not enough space etc. I personally have 3 iPods that I use all the time. And I ALREADY HAVE a smartphone :)
Erm i have iphone 6 but it cant store all my music…. simple!
Sorry, George. None of those are reasons for me not to buy another iPod. I don’t own a mobile phone of any kind. Try again.
I found your article, and you, to be greatly out of touch, and biased towards your own generation. Hello! There are plenty of seniors out here that love their iPods and for good reason. And no, we all don’t carry around flip phones. Who do you think built and played with computers and bulletin boards and modems in the first place? Our generation carved out a very nice place for your generation.
I have an iPhone 6 Plus – easier on the eyes – but I don’t want to carry it around on me when I’m mowing my lawn, doing chores, taking long walks, flying out to see my grandson on the other side of the U.S., etc. I prefer my iPod Touch with my audio books and podcasts loaded onto it.
So, telling me to do myself a favor and not buy one ever again? Raspberries to you, sir.
Crap. I own an iPhone 6 Plus 128 GB and I still want an iPod touch 128 GB just because sometimes I need a dedicated music player to let my iPhone free to answer calls, receive notifications and record videos, for example, while the music keeps rolling on without being interrupted.
my ipod 120gb is almosts dead. i like using itunes and i occasionally buy music on there. i still like having music offline, is that wrong? going to get a 128gb ipod touch and use some of the games I’ve received for free from starbucks and deals online.
to each their own.
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