The end of the entire iPod lineup was announced by Apple this week, because the iPod touch was the last iPod still available for purchase.
To send the iPod on its way, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the most notable iPod releases over the last 21 years.
The original iPod was introduced in 2001 as a device that could hold 1,000 songs. It is one of the devices that helped catapult Apple back to success.
The only iPod with a scroll wheel is the original iPod, which has a hard drive with 5 gigabytes of storage space. It had a FireWire port and sold for $399. The second- and third-generation iPods had the same Touch Wheel with click buttons around the sides, but the third model added a more refined Touch Wheel with buttons above. The third-generation iPod has a dock.
The Click Wheel, an iteration of the Touch Wheel, was introduced with the fourth-generation model in 2004. Apple used the Click Wheel for a long time.
In 2004, Apple expanded the color display of the iPod to all models, and in 2005, it did the same with the iPod with color display. The fourth-generation lineup included these two.
In 2005, Apple added video capabilities to the fifth-generation iPod, and this was the first iPod that came in black.
The iPod classic was introduced in 2007, 2008, and 2009, all of which were similar in design. The last iPod at the size was the 2009 iPod classic, which had a 160GB hard drive, a Click Wheel, and a color display. It stayed around until it was discontinued.
The first iPod mini was much smaller in size than the standard iPod. It had a standard Click Wheel in several fun colors, including yellow, blue, pink, and gold.
The iPod mini was discontinued after the second generation version was released in 2005, and it was replaced by the iPod nano.
One of the most interesting iPods that Apple has is the iPod nano, which is a replacement for the iPod mini.
Apple started out with a slim, aluminum-colored iPod with a Click Wheel, a color screen, and flash memory that allowed it to cut down on the size. The second-generation version of the nano had rounded edges, a smaller form factor, and bright aluminum colors.
In 2007, Apple went in a completely different direction with the third-generation iPod nano, and it was dubbed the "fatty" iPod.
The slimmed down fourth-generation iPod nano came in a whole rainbow of colors and only lasted for one year before being replaced with the nano fatty. It has a taller screen, a curved front, and an app that lets you shake an iPod to shuffle songs.
The fourth-generation iPod was similar to the fifth-generation iPod, but had a taller screen and a camera. Apple kept the wide array of color options, but it also came in glossier colors.
The sixth-generation version of the nano had a screen in a square-shaped body, which was a major design change. It used a multi-touch display instead of a Click Wheel, and this is the version that people attached watch straps to, making it something of a precursor to the Apple Watch.
In 2012 Apple changed the design of the iPod to a rectangular shape, but left the multi-touch display in place. The iPod touch from this era looked like a tinier one, with a Home button and support for multiple apps. New colors were added to the iPod nano in 2015.
The first iPod shuffle looked a lot like an Apple TV remote. It was the first iPod with no display and a control pad that doubled as a flash drive.
The second-generation iPod shuffle got a significant redesign in 2006 and Apple shrunk it to about half the size of the original and added a belt clip. It was advertised as the smallest mp3 player in the world, and there was an iPod shuffle dock for charging it up. It was launched in silver, but Apple came out with more than one color.
The iPod shuffle got another redesign in 2009, with Apple adding a voice feature that let it speak the names of songs and albums aloud. The model where Apple did away with the on-device controls was this one.
Apple decided against on-device controls in the fourth-generation iPod shuffle. The last iPod shuffle had bright colors, a smaller chassis, and the return of the Control Pad.
Apple introduced new colors for the iPod Shuffle in 2015. It was discontinued in the year 2017.
The first iPod touch came out in 2007, and it was an alternative that did not have cellular capabilities. It had a 3.5-inch multi-touch display and was compatible with a number of apps.
The second and third-generation iPod touch models had the same design, but when the 4th iteration of the device came out in 2010, Apple changed the look of the iPod touch to have a similar look. It came in black or white and included a front and rear camera.
The iPod touch came in bright colors for the first time in its history, as well as having a larger display and a thinner body, when Apple re-designed it in 2012. The pocketable computer with an A5 chip was released along with the iPhone.
After the fifth-generation iPod touch, the design did not change, but Apple introduced a sixth- and seventh-generation model in the last two years. After the release of the seventh-generation iPod touch, the device went without an update for three years.
Apple said that it decided to sunset the iPod lineup because the iPod's capabilities are now built into every Apple device, from the iPad to the Mac.
The iPod is superfluous because almost every modern Apple device supports the Apple Music service that Apple introduced in 2015. The iPod touch is sold out in the United States.
You may be able to find an iPod touch from a third-party retailer, but make sure to act fast because they are selling out quickly as people try to get one of the last available iPods.
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