Do people really want the iPod back? Probably not

From time to time, I see some nostalgic posts about the good old days when iPods were everywhere. Personally, the iPod was responsible for getting me to like Apple products. But years after the iPod was discontinued, I don’t think people really want the iPod back even though they claim they do – and here’s why.

The iPod brand was officially killed in 2022 when Apple officially discontinued the iPod touch with a press announcement saying that “music lives on.” However, I think the iPod was dead long before that. More specifically, in 2017, when the company discontinued the iconic iPod nano and shuffle.

Now that the iPod is gone, some people naturally miss it and say Apple should bring it back. To be honest, while I understand the sentiment, I also think the idea of an iPod no longer makes sense.

A recap of the iPod’s history

First, let’s recap the history of the iPod. The first iPod was introduced in 2001, at a time when computers were clunky, sound systems weren’t exactly portable, and phones weren’t smart. The idea of having a super portable device that could fit “a thousand songs in your pocket” was incredible. I’ll never forget the feeling when I used an iPod for the first time.

As technology evolved, Apple also introduced different versions of the iPod. Years later, the company launched the even smaller iPod nano and the tiny iPod shuffle. And iPod sales grew significantly, accounting for 40% of Apple’s revenue in 2006 – but the world was about to change, and Apple knew it.

Phones were becoming smarter, gaining more features. It wouldn’t be long before iPods were no longer needed. When Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone in 2007, he often said that the iPhone would be the best iPod. After all, it combined all the good things users already loved about the iPod with a smartphone. And time has shown that Jobs was right.

I was one of the people who used to carry both an iPhone and an iPod with me in the early days. The iPhone’s built-in storage was quite limited at the time, so for a while it still made more sense to keep a specific device for listening to music. But the iPhone evolved, the era of streaming came along, and most people no longer felt the need to have a device solely for that.

iPod sales peaked in 2008 with almost 60 million units sold and began to fall in 2009, two years after Apple introduced the first iPhone. In 2014, the last year in which Apple revealed iPod figures as a separate category, the company had sold just 14 million units. Year after year, people stopped buying iPods until they disappeared.

Do people really want the iPod back? I don’t think so

Some of the people who want the iPod back argue that Apple is “losing money” by not reviving such an iconic product. The thing is, I think Apple knows that it probably wouldn’t sell that much iPod if it was ever relaunched.

Think about the iPhone mini – there were a lot of people who said they loved smaller phones and wanted them back. Apple listened to these people, but the figures showed that the vast majority of people didn’t care for the iPhone mini. Sales were quite low compared to other models, and the iPhone mini was also eventually discontinued.

Sure, a new iPod would certainly sell well at first, since a lot of people would buy it just for nostalgia’s sake. But it’s no longer a long-term business.

Again, I understand the nostalgia factor. I still keep my 3rd generation iPod nano on my office desk to remind me of the good memories. It’s nice to turn it on and listen to music on it sometimes, but every time I do, I also understand why the iPod is gone. In today’s world, what we really want is a device that does everything.

And as Apple said, the iPod concept lives on in other devices. Not just on the iPhone, but also on our iPads, HomePods, and Apple Watch. If you think about it, Apple Watch is essentially a modern-day iPod nano. You can put music on it and use it without your iPhone nearby. And to be honest, even though I have a cellular Apple Watch, I never leave home without my iPhone.

But what about you? What are your thoughts on the iPod? Let me know in the comments section below.