iPod New iPod Classic for its 20th anniversary in October 2021

[fluxtransistor]

So Spotify released the Car Thing.

Car Thing. Spotify's smart player designed for your drive.

Learn more about Car Thing and how it works.

carthing.spotify.com

Vaguely reminiscent of an iPod in that its sole purpose is playing music, except it sits in the car.
But, alas, it seems to be heavily locked down! It requires an active Spotify subscription and an internet connection.

For $70, I would buy this if it wasn't Spotify-only.

 

[SuperMatt]

Get a used iPod and mod it with SSD or get one that is already modded. Considering that my 20-year-old 1st-gen iPod still works, I bet you will get a lot of years out of a used/modded one.

 

[EuroChilli]

We can dream...

The oldest portable music device I have is my 32GB 4th gen iPod Touch running iOS 6. The only thing it still does is play music offline, but the battery isn't so hot any more. Yes, it would be nice for nostalgic sake to get a new classic, but as already mentioned, there's a major push for streaming services now. What I also have is a cheap 2GB Sony Mp3 with one long custom playlist for snowboarding, ain't no time to remove gloves and to fish an expensive touch screen device out of my pockets.

For total nostalgia I have my vinyl collection at home which I play through a Technics amp connected to B&W speakers from 1980. Works like an absolute charm.

Any one more thing....working out on a treadmill, you just bend down and pick it/them up, assuming you didn't stand on it/them, but suppose you're snowboarding, mountain biking, canoeing etc, and your $250 AirPods fall out your ear? My EarPods often fall out, and they seem to be exactly the same design.

 

[ackmondual]

+1 to all other comments saying this wouldn't make financial sense to Apple this day in age. Hell, I'd reckon we'd see a return of the 3.5mm headphone jack before we'd get a return of the iPod Classic!

 

[Capeto]

I just wish there was an easy way to play HiFi music with a modern Apple device. iTunes and the default Music app won't even play flac natively and it's a pain in the butt to keep both flac and alac copies of my music if I want to use iTunes for it. The push for wireless headphones and the need to use an external DAC on iDevices to get the most out of music is also a big turn-off.

Granted, this could be solved by giving the iPhone a robust internal DAC and native flac support.

 

[Okta]

I just wish there was an easy way to play HiFi music with a modern Apple device. iTunes and the default Music app won't even play flac natively and it's a pain in the butt to keep both flac and alac copies of my music if I want to use iTunes for it. The push for wireless headphones and the need to use an external DAC on iDevices to get the most out of music is also a big turn-off.

Granted, this could be solved by giving the iPhone a robust internal DAC and native flac support.

Yeah, unfortunately it's a feature 95% of people wouldn't care about

 

[Capeto]

Yeah, unfortunately it's a feature 95% of people wouldn't care about

I know, but I'm still baffled as to why Apple won't implement native flac support in their Music app and iTunes, especially when their Documents app does support it. The f stands for free, for crying out loud!

 

[Okta]

I know, but I'm still baffled as to why Apple won't implement native flac support in their Music app and iTunes, especially when their Documents app does support it. The f stands for free, for crying out loud!

?. That one I am with you on, especially when they market their premium computers as devices for creative professionals

 

[danny842003]

So Spotify released the Car Thing.

View attachment 1758590

Car Thing. Spotify's smart player designed for your drive.

Learn more about Car Thing and how it works.

carthing.spotify.com

Vaguely reminiscent of an iPod in that its sole purpose is playing music, except it sits in the car.
But, alas, it seems to be heavily locked down! It requires an active Spotify subscription and an internet connection.

For $70, I would buy this if it wasn't Spotify-only.

I don’t understand this thing, most new cars have CarPlay and android auto built in. Those that don’t just get a new stereo for your car. Mine was a unit built in to the dash but there’s adaptors and 99% of the time it’s not a big deal and you get a lot more functionality.

 

[applesque]

To be honest, Apple Music still stores (protected) files locally. It's still quite frustrating to have to wear a brittle new iPhone when going for a run, and there appears to be no vaguely modern solution to this.

Apple Watch? I download a large chunk of music to Apple music on my watch, and enjoy going for a run with my GPS, wallet, and music on my wrist.

 

[JCCL]

To be honest, Apple Music still stores (protected) files locally. It's still quite frustrating to have to wear a brittle new iPhone when going for a run, and there appears to be no vaguely modern solution to this.

Well, the Apple Watch can act like an iPod Nano with access to Apple Music. When I go out for a run or with my dog I just leave the phone at home, I have access to all my music through my Watch (and if you don't have the Cellular version you get local storage).

 

[SigEp265]

P.S. Long live the iPod. Restoring a fifth gen (parts are on their way) with a color change and larger body + battery. Was going to stuff a raspberry Pi in there but someone on YouTube beat me to it.

Would love to see it!

 

[SigEp265]

So Spotify released the Car Thing.

View attachment 1758590

Car Thing. Spotify's smart player designed for your drive.

Learn more about Car Thing and how it works.

carthing.spotify.com

Vaguely reminiscent of an iPod in that its sole purpose is playing music, except it sits in the car.
But, alas, it seems to be heavily locked down! It requires an active Spotify subscription and an internet connection.

For $70, I would buy this if it wasn't Spotify-only.

agree -- i want something like that but with CarPlay onboard.

 

[SigEp265]

I don’t understand this thing, most new cars have CarPlay and android auto built in. Those that don’t just get a new stereo for your car. Mine was a unit built in to the dash but there’s adaptors and 99% of the time it’s not a big deal and you get a lot more functionality.

With my infiniti it's impossible to change the headunit as the whole car runs through that -- this is the same with many newish cars. it's super annoying.

 

[NorthernSkyLights]

Apologies have no idea who made this concept but saw it on twitter. But I think a modern classic with BT, both lightning/3.5mm and streaming services would be good

If it had a way to do Cingular data. Im sure it would a also be a selling point. Along with wifi.

 

[ntlman]

I bought a modded iPod 5.5 in February, and I can no longer handle listening to music via any other source I own (computer, iPhone/iPad, component stereo), save the car. It was not cheap, and had it been made by Apple directly and priced higher, I still would have gotten it.

I'm thinking (dreaming) a 20th anniversary iPod could run on watchOS to accommodate a shuffle wheel (crown) interface. For the most part it would just be an SSD drive with a battery, plus a headphone jack + w1 chip + DAC chip. Don't see why you would need more than an A12 to run the rest. Doesn't look likely now, but many never thought they'd see Apple bring back MagSafe, SD card slots, and HDMI ports to the MBP.

Still, we're not the only ones dreaming of this: https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/4/22561092/apple-bring-back-ipods-2021-music-services

 

[Traverse]

To be honest, I just don't think we'll see Apple put the engineering resources into a single-use device when they'd rather sell you a multipurpose tool that can also draw you into other services. It's just not their MO anymore.

I think the best we can hope for is the the "rumors" of a meaningfully updated iPod touch come to pass. Even this I would say had no chance until Apple rolled out  Music losses where the highest tier is unusable on all their devices with out a 3rd party accessory. That seems un-Apple like. It could be that it's such a niche of a niche that they don't care or maybe we'll get an iPod touch where the promotional focus is music (even hi-res) yet it runs iOS so it can also be a gateway to other paid services.

 

[mrsmith1]

I got quite excited when I saw the headline for this thread, thinking this was going to happen, some announcement I had missed? Then I realised it was just a wish. Sigh. I would definitely buy one of these, but like my hair growing back, it ain’t never going to happen.

 

[ntlman]

I guess the other issue that motivates me to think that Apple would re-consider is the fact that brands like Sony and Astell&Kern sell Walkmans that only play music that START at $1000. I think they both have a model or two that are even over $3000! Surely if those 2 brands are able to fill a luxury, audiophile niche/space, Apple's own iPod could be an easy competitor.

Is the idea of Apple selling a $4000 audiophile-grade, music only iPod any sillier than selling an 18k gold, $10000 Apple Watch? At least there's direct proof from competitors that there's an existing market for the former.

Sigh.

 

[SegNerd]

I got quite excited when I saw the headline for this thread, thinking this was going to happen, some announcement I had missed? Then I realised it was just a wish. Sigh. I would definitely buy one of these, but like my hair growing back, it ain’t never going to happen.

Yeah, if you’re going to write a subject like that, you should totally add a question mark at the end.

 

[GSWForever8]

It would certainly be a pleasant surprise to see some sort of non-Touch homage to the original iPod this year.

A click wheel just can't be replaced and it's uncomfortable to control a touchscreen device when working out/commuting/just having it in your pocket. Headphone jack adapters are a nuisance and not everyone wants AirPods.

The era of iTunes has moved on, and I love having everything imaginable on my iPhone. But sometimes it's just a little too much with notifications, distractions and battery life making it unfit for pure music listening.

People have swapped batteries and drives into classic iPods with several times the capacity, making them last days on end. Now imagine the possibilities with modern low power SoCs. I think that it would be great to see a comeback of the iPod brand, with:

- SSD, 256/512GB
- Battery lasts for days
- Wireless charging
- Bluetooth, WiFi
- Headphone jack
- Hi-res formats
- CarPlay
- Click wheel
- Apple Music / Spotify

We deserve this!

This should be the next iPod touch. Touch screen but with a click wheel. That would be nice!

 

[turbineseaplane]

I'm still regularly using mine from the mid 2000's.

I've put a new battery and an SSD in it -- better than new!

Phenomenal devices.

I love single purpose, focused, technology.
I really wish it had bluetooth - but --- it is what it is

 

[sracer]

I'm still regularly using mine from the mid 2000's.

I've put a new battery and an SSD in it -- better than new!

Phenomenal devices.

I love single purpose, focused, technology.
I really wish it had bluetooth - but --- it is what it is

A media player with dedicated function buttons is highly underrated and under-appreciated.

 

[yabeweb]

I would be all over a dedicated player that puts audio quality first, a new iPod Dap with a headphone jack for HI-FI music.

Eh one can dream, but tha'ts what it'll remain, a dream!

 

[sracer]

I would be all over a dedicated player that puts audio quality first, a new iPod Dap with a headphone jack for HI-FI music.

Eh one can dream, but tha'ts what it'll remain, a dream!

Those players currently exist... just not from Apple. I recently purchased a FiiO M7. Although it is Android-based, the hardware is very good, and the sound quality is noticeably better than any of the older iPod Classics.