Apple is Discontinuing the iPod Touch

Apple announced today that it has now discontinued the iPod touch, marking the end of an era for the company. Customers can still purchase the latest iPod touch released back in 2019 on the Apple Store and other retailers while supplies last, but Apple is now done manufacturing the iOS-based mobile devices.

“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,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

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The original iPod touch was released back in September 2007, and Apple released seven generations of this product over 12 years. The iPod touch was the only iPod to come with iOS, the App Store, and a camera, and the 7th generation iPod touch came with the same A10 processor including in the iPhone 7.

“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,” Joswiak said today.

If you want to purchase an iPod Touch before it becomes a collector item, they’re still available at $199 on the Apple Store.

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Conversation 20 comments

  • wbhite

    Premium Member
    10 May, 2022 - 1:33 pm

    <p>Being sort of a hard-headed, anti-Apple guy in the heyday of iPods, I never actually owned one (Creative Zen and others were my jam). But, I can’t deny the impact of the iPod on the world at large, in both the tech and consumer industries. Truly the end of an era.</p>

    • dftf

      10 May, 2022 - 1:49 pm

      <p>I still have an <em>iPod Mini (2nd Generation</em>), which has had a number of battery-changes over-the-years, has a 32GB CompactFlash card, and which has the <em>Rockbox</em> open-source OS now running on it. Still works great, and good for when I just want music, but not to be on my phone to do so.</p><p><br></p><p>While other players didn’t appeal as-much to me, I can’t deny with things like the <em>Creative Zen</em>, it sure was nice to just be able to copy music files over using "My Computer" directly and not have to use something like <em>iTunes!</em></p>

  • dan1986ist

    Premium Member
    10 May, 2022 - 1:34 pm

    <p>For those who have an iPod Touch or thinking about getting one will support for those devices also be discontinued if it has not been already, since Apple is no longer making them?</p>

    • dftf

      10 May, 2022 - 1:45 pm

      <p>You can likely expect at-least a few more years, given the <em>iPhone 7 and 7+ </em>used the same SoC, and the current <em>iOS</em> <em>15</em> supports both the <em>iPhone</em> <em>6S </em>and<em> 6S+ </em>and the original <em>iPhone SE</em> (2016), both of which are older. (Though some sites suggest that <em>iOS 16 </em>may finally be the one to drop-support for the <em>6S </em>and <em>6S+</em>, so… who-knows?)</p>

    • truerock2

      10 May, 2022 - 5:44 pm

      <p>I own an Apple Watch series 1 and an iPad generation 3 and and an iPhone 4. They all work just fine.</p><p>I own all kinds of old iPods – which I assume would work if I charged them up. I have a couple of iPhone 3Gs that would probably work if I charged them.</p><p><br></p><p>I also, run Windows 3.1, Windows 95, etc… they all work just fine. Microsoft does not support those operating systems. I could care less.</p>

    • Stabitha.Christie

      10 May, 2022 - 7:03 pm

      <p>Apple provides replacement parts for 7 years after they stop selling a product. On the software side they tend to match that. IOS 15 supports phones going back to the 6s which is 7 years. Given the last iPod touch came out in 2019 old say it probably gets one or two more updates. </p>

  • dftf

    10 May, 2022 - 1:38 pm

    <p>Can’t say I’m surprised… if you ever visited the <em>Apple</em> website in the last few years, the <em>iPod Touch</em> was nowhere to be found at the top of the site, and if you clicked "Store" it didn’t appear there either — the only place is <em>does </em>appear is all-the-way at the bottom of the page, near the bottom of the "Shop and Learn" column!</p><p><br></p><p>Price-wise the <em>iPod Touch</em> goes-for £199 for the 32GB storage model; £299 for 128GB; or £399 for the 256GB one. The cheapest <em>iPhone SE</em> (2022), which shares a similar design, is £419 for 64GB, then £469 for 128GB, or £569 for 256GB. Now the <em>Touch</em> won’t be a-thing in-future, I wonder if there will be a storage-bump in the next <em>iPhone SE</em>, as that will then be the cheapest entry-point device into iOS?</p>

  • nkhughes

    10 May, 2022 - 1:59 pm

    <p>I still use a 6th gen. iPod Touch at home to listen to music and podcasts, and occasionally to act as the remote control for a Firestick or Chromecast. Nice and pocket-able, plus it stops me draining the battery of my iPhone so fast.</p>

  • fishnet37222

    Premium Member
    10 May, 2022 - 3:09 pm

    <p>The iPod touch was my first iOS device. I used to use it for music while using a simple flip-phone for phone calls. I ended up replacing those two devices with an iPhone after the iPod touch fell out of my pocket while I was riding Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Great Adventure and forgot to zip my jacket pocket.</p>

  • christianwilson

    Premium Member
    10 May, 2022 - 3:27 pm

    <p>I loved this thing when it first released. I used it alongside my BlackBerry Pearl for a while until I converged and got an iPhone 3G. </p>

  • JH_Radio

    Premium Member
    10 May, 2022 - 3:55 pm

    <p>I love my iPod Touch 7th generation. I got it the very day it came out and use it as my secondary device. I’ll use it until support is dropped which I think will be in probably 2 to 3 years or so.</p><p>John</p><p> </p>

  • iantrem

    Premium Member
    10 May, 2022 - 4:12 pm

    <p>I’m probably not the only web developer who bought an iPod touch so they could see what their websites looked like on an iPhone, without spending big bucks on an iPhone. Hope the device I have lasts a few years yet!</p><p><br></p><p>I’ve actually attached it to my music system as a replacement for the CDs which are now starting to age and no longer play well (or maybe it’s the CD player that’s gone?)</p>

    • robincapper

      11 May, 2022 - 4:37 am

      <p>Not just developers, have seen lots used as staff devices in retail for stock control, store ops</p>

      • wright_is

        Premium Member
        11 May, 2022 - 6:31 am

        <p>Yes, we wrote a stock picking app for one customer, who used iPod Touches with a bar code scanner head unit to read 2D and 3D barcodes.</p>

  • truerock2

    10 May, 2022 - 5:05 pm

    <p>Strategically, this is more significant that one might think.</p><p>Apple has always wanted the iPad to <strong><u>not</u></strong> be a large iPhone and the idea of where iPod fit into that dichotomy was always annoying to Apple’s iPad team.</p><p><br></p><p>To me, it is obvious that iPad and iPhone should be the same thing. All the effort that Apple puts into making the iPad <strong><u>not</u></strong> an iPhone results in an inferior experience for its customers.</p><p><br></p><p>Every once in a while I bump into a long-time iPhone user who has bought their first iPad only to find that iPad is just an inferior version of the iPhone.</p><p><br></p><p>Part of it is that the cell phone network providers have hundreds of billions of dollars sunk into obsolete technology supporting SMS text, cell phone voice and cell phone data. All of that cell phone tech is obsolete and should have been almost eliminated by now.</p><p><br></p><p>Thank god tech dotards have almost stopped wanting dial-up POTS, land-line telephones. Can you believe this country still spends billions on that technology?</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

  • RedSign

    10 May, 2022 - 5:11 pm

    <p>Time to rename iOS to iPhoneOS.</p>

    • jhoersch

      Premium Member
      10 May, 2022 - 10:30 pm

      <p>It’s original name! (iPhone OS)</p>

  • arjay

    10 May, 2022 - 9:21 pm

    <p>It’s perfect for listening to podcasts or music on my daily exercise walk. When I switch to the phone it feels like carrying a brick in my shirt pocket.</p>

    • curtisspendlove

      10 May, 2022 - 11:05 pm

      <p><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">It’s perfect for listening to podcasts or music on my daily exercise walk. When I switch to the phone it feels like carrying a brick in my shirt pocket.</em></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">See…this is my only real issue with my Apple stuff. </span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Overall I love it all. BUT! It’s often like having a shoe that’s a bit too big and one that is a bit too small. </span></p><p><br></p><p>I used to love iPod for exact what you said. Ideally, you should be able to go on a walk without your phone but with something lighter. An Apple Watch, maybe? This does work with the right Watch, but the Apple Watch is quite a bit more expensive than an iPod Touch. </p><p><br></p><p>Others have alluded to an iPad being a huge iPhone. I love my iPad. It’s nearly perfect. But there it is again, if it could only do a few more power user things it *would* be perfect. But the OS prevents it from being in the middle between a phone and a Mac. </p><p><br></p><p>A shoe slightly too big and a shoe slightly too small. </p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    11 May, 2022 - 12:16 am

    <p>I was a Windows Mobile smartphone user at the time the iPhone 3GS came out and decided to look at the iPod Touch, to see what the fuss was about. About 2-3 weeks later, I pre-ordered the iPhone 3GS.</p><p><br></p><p>A few months later, my brother came to visit and I gave him my Touch.</p><p><br></p><p>That was the only iPod I ever owned. I did have a little Philips player that came free with my Audible subscription. One of my sister-in-laws borrowed it, when she went into hospital for chemo. I packed it full of audio books for her. I think I also used it the same way, when I was in hospital for an operation, the batteries lasted much longer than a smartphone, so used the phone for communications and just had the player for listening to books, whilst the phone was out of reach, charging.</p>

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