September 25, 2006: Apple ships its second-generation iPod nano, offering a fancy redesign of the pocket-size original.
Among the new iPod nano’s improvements are a slimmer, anodized aluminum casing; a brighter screen; longer battery life, and a wide range of colors. And, oh yes, it also includes gapless music playback for the first time!
It’s the end of an era — Apple has stopped making the once-iconic iPod. The little music player helped save Apple, and made the company a powerhouse in the music industry, but its day is over.
The last model is the iPod touch, which “will be available while supplies last,” Apple said Tuesday in a press release.
Editor’s note: We originally published this illustrated history of the iPod to celebrate the device’s 10th anniversary on Oct. 22, 2011 (and updated it a decade later). We republished it on May 10, 2022, when Apple finally pulled the plug on the iPod.
The iPod grew out of Steve Jobs’ digital hub strategy. Life was going digital. People were plugging all kinds of devices into their computers: digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players.
The computer was the central device, the “digital hub,” that could be used to edit photos and movies or manage a large music library. Jobs tasked Apple’s programmers with making software for editing photos, movies and managing digital music. While they were doing this, they discovered that all the early MP3 players were horrible. Jobs asked his top hardware guy, Jon Rubinstein, to see if Apple could do better.
Once the crown jewel in Apple’s treasure chest, the iPod continues its slow march to the end. This week, the last generation iPod nano, which debuted with new color options in 2015, officially debuted on Apple’s “vintage” list.
New photos reveal an original Apple Watch prototype apparently used for internal testing before the wearable made its official debut in 2015.
The device is protected by a security case, which looks a little like an iPod nano, to disguise it during transportation. It also comes in a brown cardboard box marked “Apple Confidential.”
The seventh-generation iPod nano, Apple’s last model, will be added to the company’s list of “vintage” products later this month.
First introduced in 2015, the device was marketed as the thinnest iPod ever, with the ability to connect to Bluetooth headphones and speakers, a built-in FM radio tuner, and a 2.5-inch color display.
Apple reportedly explored adding an iPod port to the Mac mini. Images of a prototype unit surfaced online over the weekend, showing a product Apple decided not to release.
In the three short years since Apple Watch debuted, Cupertino has massively improved its smartwatch. Remember the early days, when Glances took ages to load, only to show out-of-date information? When the Fitness app refused to stay in the foreground during a workout? Or when the side button launched a doodling app?
Since the launch, Apple has rolled out big upgrades to watchOS every year at its Worldwide Developers Conference. But there is still loads more that could be done to really unleash Apple Watch’s full potential.
With this year’s WWDC confirmed for June, here’s my wish list of the all the new watchOS stuff I’m hoping will be announced in San Jose, California. It’s a pretty long list, so I’ve broken it down into three separate posts, starting with usability. In followup posts, I’ll focus on fitness, apps and setup.
Apple is no longer providing repairs or service for the sixth-generation iPod nano.
The device was added to the company’s list of vintage and obsolete products on August 30, and a memo distributed to Apple stores and Authorized Service Providers confirms that repairs are no longer being carried out… unless you live in California.
Apple pulled the iPod nano and iPod shuffle from its website today, confirming that the models have been discontinued.
The iPod touch, which just received a storage boost, remains as the company’s only dedicated music player.
