A Final Farewell to Apple's iPod Nano and Shuffle Plus What's Next

Apple has officially discontinued the iPod Nano and Shuffle, two products that were released 12 years ago.

Back in 2001, Steve Jobs delivered a keynote where he introduced the world to Apple’s new line of devices, called iPods, that greatly contributed to the company’s revival and subsequent dominance of the tech market well before the advent of the iPhone.

Resembling a small remote-control, the iPod Classic was a portable device with 5 GB of storage that went on sale in November 2001, only to be discontinued in 2014.

Music aficionados around the world got to know Apple. The company had allowed them to carry their music wherever they go, adhering to the famous slogan of the iPod Classic “1,000 songs in your pocket”.

In a few months, millions of iPod Classics found their place in the pockets of users. But that was only the beginning.

iPod Nano and Shuffle Join Apple’s Museum of Defunct Products

In 2005, after many iPod Classic new versions, Apple unveiled two digital audio players as new members in the iPod family, the Shuffle and Nano.

Sporting new colors and an ultra-flat design, the Nano was the first iPod to play video as well as MP3 music files.

Shuffle was the smallest iPod and the first to use a flash memory.

Nano and Shuffle, the only two iPods that did not offer Wi-Fi connectivity and did not support iOS, enjoyed big success. That was, until times changed and Apple refocused its efforts onto the iPhone.

Last Thursday, July 27th, Apple signed off on the end of an era for iPod fans and music lovers in general. The Company has officially killed off the Nano and Shuffle, and decided to stop the production and commercialization of the products.

Web pages representing these two products are nowhere to be found on Apple’s website, and old links will redirect to the company’s music section.

Since Shuffle and Nano have not been updated in years (2010 and 2012 respectively), with hindsight, we realize that Apple has known for a long time that these iPods will be discontinued.

Nothing Lasts Forever, Especially new Tech!

New tech kills off the older tech, and we don’t welcome a new product until we say goodbye to another.

The iPod Shuffle and Nano have gone the way of iPod Classic, the dodo bird, and many other Apple products before them, like the original Macintosh, iMac, and Apple I.

iPods once put an end to older music players, like the Walkman, and in turn, they will certainly cease to exist at some point.

For now, music and iPod fans will have to settle for an iPod Touch that looks like the iPhone. Furthermore, it’s basically an iPhone without cellular connectivity.

Apple will continue to offer two models of iPod touch, with 32 GB of storage for $199 USD or 128 GB for $299 USD.

What’s Next for Apple’s Mobile Devices?

We recently covered the iPad Pro 2017 and its exciting new use of adaptive refresh rate technology.

As Linus Tech Tips points out, Apple has a reputation for being different that other tech companies. Instead of constantly designing products to appease the desires of their users, Apple typically takes an altogether different direction.

This is true for Apple’s decision to incorporate better refresh rate technology in newer devices so that content developers don’t have to create myriad different versions of their apps for each Apple device.

This may seem like a subtle development, but we’re willing to bet other tech manufacturers will be following suit as soon as they can.

Now that the iPad Shuffle and Nano are discontinued, where will Apple go from here? Who do you think will be the top tech developer over the next decade?