Apple kills iPod nano, iPod shuffle lines after nearly 12 years of service

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited July 2017
Ending an era, the iPod nano and iPod shuffle have been officially discontinued, leaving only the A8 iPod touch as the sole survivor of the iPod line.




AppleInsider has confirmed that the iPod nano and iPod shuffle have been discontinued. Retail stores will be directed to sell through existing stock, and will not see any more shipments of the products.

The products will see decreasing availability as Apple refurbished devices as well. Apple sources not authorized to speak on behalf of the company has said that after a certain date, any remaining stock at retail will be shunted to warranty replacement stock.

The company offset the loss of the legacy iPods by doubling the capacity of the iPod touch to 32 gigabytes for $199, or 128 gigabytes for $299. It still has the same A8 processor, but the 16- and 64-gigabyte models have been trimmed from the simplified lineup.

"Today, we are simplifying our iPod lineup with two models of iPod touch now with double the capacity starting at just $199," Apple said in a statement. "And, we are discontinuing the iPod shuffle and iPod nano."

On Thursday, prior to the official announcement of the storage-boosted iPod touch, Apple pulled the product pages for the iPod shuffle and nano.

The iPod shuffle was introduced in January 2005, and last updated in September 2010. The iPod nano launched in September 2005, and got a minor update with new color options in 2015, but hasn't seen any notable hardware updates since October 2012.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 54
    stompystompy Posts: 408member
    These iPods have been almost perfect at what they do. So long old friends.
    calimagman1979doozydozenanton zuykovMisterKit1983longpathnetmagegregoriusmzroger73
  • Reply 2 of 54
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,361member
    So no entry level lightweight "sports iPod" anymore? The expensive Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones it is for runners?
    gregoriusm
  • Reply 3 of 54
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.
    edited July 2017 heliskyrbdkennedy1002ike17055
  • Reply 4 of 54
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.
    Sure, iPod Shuffle sale has been 1 a year since you bought it. Tell Tim to keep it just for you...guess what, no one cares about a player without a display anymore!
    anton zuykov1983magman1979netmagerandominternetpersonlolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 54
    polymniapolymnia Posts: 1,080member
    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.
    Anyone who enters the standalone, non-smart  MP3 player market (with or without the discontinued iPods) deserves the failure they will suffer trying to exploit this "opportunity"
    1983magman1979longpathnetmagerandominternetpersonlolliverradarthekatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 54
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Last I went to Apple Store I saw these iPods hidden in the back on a little lonely shelf. It made me feel a deep sadness while everyone else browsed the newer toys.
    made me hope the Watch would be the new iPod. If Watch gains %70+ market share, all will be good.

    iPod really had the market. People didn't say "Do you have an MP3 Player" they said "do you have an iPod".

    nowadays with everyone rushing to copy Apple people are confused and just bundle every iPhone/knockoff under "smartphone".  The magic is gone because people are too stupid to realize their smartphone is just a fake iPhone. 

    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.

    The competition is too busy copying iPhone for some reason.
    magman1979longpathstompyronnradarthekatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 54
    I'm sure this was a very rational decision on Apple's part, given the numbers they have on sales that we're not privy to.
    magman1979longpathrandominternetpersonmkrewsonronnlolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 54
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.
     Yes, what an incredibly lucrative "opportunity", as if dirt cheap MP3 players like this with no display and almost no profit margin have not existed for ages. If there is an "opportunity" here, clearly Apple does not care about it, nor should it. It's meaningless. The shuffle and nano have zero wireless or ecosystem capabilities, and they're obsolete in every single way that matters. This won't make a blip on Apple's bottom line, sales, or customers. 

    magman1979longpathRayz2016bdkennedy1002ronnlolliverroundaboutnowradarthekatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 54
    doozydozendoozydozen Posts: 539member
    And what an incredible run they had. 
    magman1979longpathgregoriusmronnlostkiwimacky the mackylolliverradarthekatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 54
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.
    Just blow it out your nether region. I haven't seen an iPod in the wild, except for the Touch, in years. Time marches on. Jobs is dead.
    williamlondonmagman1979longpathjony0doozydozenronnpscooter63watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 54
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    polymnia said:
    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.
    Anyone who enters the standalone, non-smart  MP3 player market (with or without the discontinued iPods) deserves the failure they will suffer trying to exploit this "opportunity"
    Nonsense. It's no longer viable for Apple due to their margins, no doubt. 

    Actually, since Apple can't make the numbers work anymore they should permit a flood of licensed products fill the gap. Give licensed 3rd parties a crack and collect the "free" revenue to boot.
    edited July 2017
  • Reply 12 of 54
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    I have an orange second gen that I use as a tie clip. Great little device. I wonder which of Apple’s remaining product categories will be next to go (after the iPod touch, of course).
  • Reply 13 of 54
    A 256GB or 512GB iPod touch would be awesome IMO.
    netmageronnlolliver
  • Reply 14 of 54
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    palegolas said:
    So no entry level lightweight "sports iPod" anymore? The expensive Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones it is for runners?
    I agree. This is the ONE I thought they'd keep. It's clear to me the Apple Watch replaces the nano for a similar price point. But the shuffle really does seem to serve a continuing purpose, especially for the price point. Apple could have dropped it to $29 and still sold millions of them, I bet. Oh well. I'm, a bit surprised the Touch is being kept around -- I truly expected the SE to take it's place, but giving the Touch a memory boost means it's going to be around for at least another year. Seems truly outdated without a bigger screen. Maybe a price drop on the SE next Summer will finally take it out completely.
  • Reply 15 of 54
    polymniapolymnia Posts: 1,080member
    polymnia said:
    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.
    Anyone who enters the standalone, non-smart  MP3 player market (with or without the discontinued iPods) deserves the failure they will suffer trying to exploit this "opportunity"
    Nonsense. It's no longer viable for Apple due to their margins, no doubt. 

    Actually, since Apple can't make the numbers work anymore they should permit a flood of licensed products fill the gap. Give licensed 3rd parties a crack and collect the "free" revenue to boot.
    Why stop with dumb MP3 players? Apple seems to be having a tough time with Macs lately, too. 

    Perhaps they should also license MacOS. 

    why does anyone bother with working to make "expensive" money when they could make "free" money by following your advice?
    magman1979ronnlolliver
  • Reply 16 of 54
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    polymnia said:
    polymnia said:
    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.
    Anyone who enters the standalone, non-smart  MP3 player market (with or without the discontinued iPods) deserves the failure they will suffer trying to exploit this "opportunity"
    Nonsense. It's no longer viable for Apple due to their margins, no doubt. 

    Actually, since Apple can't make the numbers work anymore they should permit a flood of licensed products fill the gap. Give licensed 3rd parties a crack and collect the "free" revenue to boot.
    Why stop with dumb MP3 players? Apple seems to be having a tough time with Macs lately, too. 

    Perhaps they should also license MacOS. 

    why does anyone bother with working to make "expensive" money when they could make "free" money by following your advice?
    You assume a lot.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 17 of 54
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Stupid decision, Tim. The shuffle is the only iPod I consider reasonable to wear during exercise and the best version of the shuffle used to be the one with a bigger clip!

    On occasion, when Apple screws up this should be seen as a clear opportunity for their competition.

    Hmmm, I'm assuming you're better informed than "Tim" who of course is the only person at Apple that makes decisions and does it on a whim, "just because". I'm also wondering why Apple hasn't hired you as a consultant since you obviously have a deeper understanding of what Apple's users want?

    I have a very old iPod shuffle that still works and I still use. And guess what? Even if I haven't bought one yet... there's probably a huge market of used iPods if I still want need to buy one. As long they continue to support them in iTunes, there's no reason to continue selling them at this point.
    netmageronnlolliver
  • Reply 18 of 54
    thrangthrang Posts: 1,007member
    I've long forgotten these existed. Presumably so did most everyone else. The only small negative is how many young people's "first" Apple product was something like this, as a way to enter into the Apple ecosystem Then again, perhaps something else is coming...
    netmagelostkiwimacky the mackylolliver
  • Reply 19 of 54
    mr omr o Posts: 1,046member
    They forgot to kill iTunes!

    It is no longer needed for the Shuffle and Nano.

    >:x
    pscooter63radarthekat
  • Reply 20 of 54
    dedgeckodedgecko Posts: 169member
    palegolas said:
    So no entry level lightweight "sports iPod" anymore? The expensive Apple Watch with Bluetooth headphones it is for runners?
    Perhaps the S1 watch is going to be the replacement at a further reduced price come September?
    thrangronnlolliverradarthekat
Sign In or Register to comment.