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iPod chance of a new iPod (ever again)

deaglecat

deaglecat

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 9, 2012
597
713
Has Apple definitely abandoned the iPod line now, or is it possible in future to resurrect some (perhaps Apple music subscription based) device at a cheaper price than a full iPhone and with good battery life.

Even a smaller iPad mini sort of thing with a 4-5 inch screen might work.

(I am aware the IPT is discontinued but that never had a usable battery life for many folk…).
 
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T

theriddler

macrumors regular
Dec 6, 2011
109
42
UK
Smart watches like Apple Watch and Garmin coupled with Bluetooth earbuds can play offline music streaming.

Payment terminals are now dedicated devices, or Apple iPhone 14 with a card payment terminal attachment at the Apple Store
 
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floral

floral

macrumors 65816
Jan 12, 2023
1,010
1,230
Earth
Yeah... totally gone.

Every Apple device can play music offline. The main appeal of the iPod was to play music offline, and anything unique to it was either also brought to the other devices or largely useless. (Except a headphone jack. Those were not useless...)

That doesn't mean you can't use an older one, as the latest iPod classic has good enough hardware to reliably play any media you'd like (not in a great resolution, but whatever)... they're gone now. No more.
 
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zach-coleman

zach-coleman

macrumors 65816
Apr 10, 2022
1,187
2,104
The market of people who want a dedicated music device when their phone will do just fine is extremely small. I'm a little shocked they killed the iPod touch as it was a good device for children, but I guess they assume the iPad is the more popular device in that demographic... I see zero chance.
 
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NT1440

NT1440

macrumors G5
May 18, 2008
14,694
21,237
zach-coleman said:
The market of people who want a dedicated music device when their phone will do just fine is extremely small. I'm a little shocked they killed the iPod touch as it was a good device for children, but I guess they assume the iPad is the more popular device in that demographic... I see zero chance.
Click to expand...
I firmly believe when it comes to children the iPod touch use case has been entirely replaced by mom or dad’s “old” phone when they purchase a new one.
 
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TeslaBot

TeslaBot

macrumors member
Sep 15, 2023
41
48
I hope so as I would like to use a separate device for my music instead of using my old iPhone SE to use music.
 
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sracer

sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,292
13,027
where hip is spoken
TeslaBot said:
I hope so as I would like to use a separate device for my music instead of using my old iPhone SE to use music.
Click to expand...
I too am using my old iPhone SE (1st gen SE) as a dedicated music device... I use it nightly to fall asleep.

But it falls short as far as being a general purpose dedicated music device because of the reliance on a touchscreen and lack of physical controls.

That is why I've resurrected my old brown Zune 30. It still works. I recently replaced the battery and swapped out the 30GB spinner harddrive and replaced it with a 64GB SSD. The thing is BETTER than new.

Having been encouraged by the success of that upgrade, I dusted off my Creative Zen Vision:M which worked only on AC power. Turns out the battery had swollen. I replaced the battery and swapped out the 30 GB spinner harddrive for an adapter card+64GB microSD. The results were equally amazing.

I have a 30GB iPod Video (5th gen) that still works. Battery life is adequate but it still has the original 30GB spinner harddrive. I plan on a battery swap and harddrive-for-SSD swap for this as well. I may even spring a little bit extra for a new back plate.

Unfortunately, dedicated portable media players are not coming back to the mainstream. If anyone wants one, I highly recommend buying an older one and rejuvenating it. The sooner the better since the quantity of good specimens will decline as each year passes. There are a surprising number of places to buy quality replacement parts for older players (especially iPods).

I shared my experiences with the Zune and Creative ZVM because although I'm a software guy (worked on an AI project 13 years ago at IBM that had over 1 million lines of code), I'm not a hardware guy at all (I can't handle a soldering iron to save my life). And yet I was able to upgrade these 2 devices and hope to do the same with the iPod Video.

If I can do it, than I have confidence that anyone reading this can.
 
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spiderman0616

spiderman0616

Suspended
Aug 1, 2010
5,670
7,491
I am hanging on by a thread to the hope that someday there is an AirPods case with a front screen and a built in iPod Shuffle. There was a rumor they were looking at doing something like this, and it's something I've thought for years would be a great idea even before I heard that rumor.

The problem is, I'm not sure how feasible of a product that is when you can just buy an Apple Watch and load it up with music instead.
 
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Lex404

Lex404

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2023
223
395
PL (&US)
I'm sad they killed it... Would love a Hi Res player from apple, with balanced output, support for very high bitrate and powerful

Got a Sony ZX707 in January when it was launched, but the android interface is 🤢 It costs as much as an iPhone 15

Apple now makes only products for the masses, but if they could design and keep in stores a Lightning to USB C cable.. I don't think a dedicated DAP would have lower sales.
 
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_justbecause

_justbecause

macrumors newbie
Sep 18, 2023
19
40
Not very likely, at all. Why focus resources on a product that would only sell to a niche? It would not only be the manufacturing cost but the costs associated with keeping a product updated, customer support, etc.
 
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Mark.g4

Mark.g4

macrumors 6502
Mar 13, 2023
336
347
deaglecat said:
Has Apple definitely abandoned the iPod line now, or is it possible in future to resurrect some (perhaps Apple music subscription based) device at a cheaper price than a full iPhone and with good battery life.

Even a smaller iPad mini sort of thing with a 4-5 inch screen might work.

(I am aware the IPT is discontinued but that never had a usable battery life for many folk…).
Click to expand...
the ipod is officially dead, but the community is alive and active.
There are mods with bluetooth, taptic engine, SSD, SD-card, covers and someone continue and also write new software.
If you're a geek, the iPod is still the best music player today.
 
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spiderman0616

spiderman0616

Suspended
Aug 1, 2010
5,670
7,491
Mark.g4 said:
the ipod is officially dead, but the community is alive and active.
There are mods with bluetooth, taptic engine, SSD, SD-card, covers and someone continue and also write new software.
If you're a geek, the iPod is still the best music player today.
Click to expand...
It really, really is and I wish we still had our "Classic" with the huge hard drive and click wheel. My younger son left it on an airplane in L.A. years ago and we never saw it again after that. 😞
 
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D

darngooddesign

macrumors P6
Jul 4, 2007
18,009
9,605
Atlanta, GA
spiderman0616 said:
It really, really is and I wish we still had our "Classic" with the huge hard drive and click wheel. My younger son left it on an airplane in L.A. years ago and we never saw it again after that. 😞
Click to expand...
Just buy a refurbished one; you can get them with big SD Cards and big Batteries.

eoe.works

Apple iPod Classic 6th & 7th Generation

Elite Obsolete Electronics
eoe.works eoe.works
 
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