Why Apple Discontinued The iPod After 20 Years

Before the age of streaming services, one of the easiest ways to take your music library with you was with an iPod. Apple's portable music player required no subscription: All you had to do was buy the hardware, connect it to a computer, and start uploading albums and playlists to listen to later. No worrying about Wi-Fi or data caps since your music and other audio files would hit your headphones offline as soon as you pressed play. It was simplicity at its finest, and even as Apple moved into new iPod models and generations, it just got better.

But in the world of consumer tech, the sad reality is we often have to say goodbye to products we love. Apple discontinued the iPod lineup in May 2022, three years after the release of the seventh-generation iPod touch. Smartphones and streaming services were two of the main reasons why.

Over the years, phones became just as powerful and intuitive, if not more, than the iPod hardware. Whatever your iPod could do, your smartphone could probably do something similar or better. It also became very convenient to carry a single device that handled everything from calls and texts to music playback.

It took a minute for platforms like Spotify and its many music streaming alternatives to enter the mainstream, but now it's hard to imagine a world without these tools. Streaming made it possible to listen to your favorite albums and artists without hosting any audio files on your device. As long as you have an internet connection or pay for a streaming plan with offline listening, your tunes can follow you anywhere.

This presented a fundamental shift in the way most folks consumed music. Gone were the days of ripping songs from CDs and wondering if your devices had enough storage space to accommodate all your albums. Then came the discovery tools that leveraged algorithms to connect listeners with music, podcasts, and other audio content. As long as you were a fan of a few bands, apps like Spotify and Apple Music would ensure you were introduced to similar artists and genres.

Fast forward to the present day, and the iPod is now a nostalgic relic. Even if your 15-year-old iPod touch still works, we're willing to bet that your phone rig is the superior option. Still, it might be fun for a weekend to pretend you live in an age without music streaming. No notifications, no endless choice paralysis: just the albums you deliberately loaded onto the physical device. Your old iPod won't replace your smartphone, but as a little tech time machine, it's hard to beat the charm.