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Apple to discontinue iPod Nano and Shuffle
- JoshTriplett 9y agoDiscontinuing the Shuffle makes sense. But I'm surprised that they don't just update the Nano to support their current services. It does have a screen.
- k-mcgrady 9y agoInsignificant number of users/purchasers probably. How many people don't have a smartphone with a music service on it? And out of the people that would prefer a device like the Nano for certain activities (e.g. gym) how many need a new version? I still have the first Nano that had a video camera and it works as well as the day I bought it.
- SyneRyder 9y ago> And out of the people that would prefer a device like the Nano for certain activities (e.g. gym) how many need a new version? And for those who do, Apple would probably prefer to sell you an Apple Watch with 2GB of music storage than an iPod Shuffle.
- swah 9y agoMaybe those expensive wireless earphones could even keep a playlist in memory and then you can go for a run without the phone..
- robotresearcher 9y ago> How many people don't have a smartphone with a music service on it? More than six billion?
- gargarplex 9y agoOptimistic they will be introducing a high-end iPhone, made from scarce parts. Through price anchoring, the Touch will seem like a bargain low-end screen device.
- pc86 9y agoWhat "scarce parts" are you going to use to build a phone?
- macintux 9y agoFor Apple, nearly anything new is scarce at their scale. There's a lot of speculation that a new high-end phone will be added to the lineup to allow them to introduce technology that can't be scaled as fast as Apple would need. See http://www.macworld.com/article/3207552/iphone-ipad/apples-risky-balancing-act-with-the-next-iphone.html http://www.macworld.com/article/3207552/iphone-ipad/apples-r...
- wyldfire 9y agoThe marketplace for these devices is probably shrinking as smartphone penetration increases. The BOM for the ipod touch is probably similar enough to the iphone for them to justify keeping it around.
- digi_owl 9y agoThe market for them were already hurting back when Featurephones were a thing, so i am surprised to learn they still exist. Heck, featurephones with music capabilities were probably what drove Apple to make a phone in the first place.
- rickyc091 9y agoThe iPod Touch is still incredibly popular among kids since it doesn't require a cellular contract. Given that most schools and places have wifi an iPod Touch is great on the budget.
- hammock 9y agoI would sooner buy a Shuffle than a Nano (I have neither). For the exercise use case, Shuffle is a third the weight of Nano, a third the price, smaller form factor and has a clip for your clothes. If all you want to do is shuffle your playlist while you run for an hour, it's perfect. I never understood the people who run with a half-pound smartphone strapped to their arm.
- ianferrel 9y agoIt's not that I don't want something smaller. It's that I don't want the hassle of configuring and updating one more thing. If I had an "iPod shuffle" app on my iPhone that would just keep the shuffle updated with music wirelessly, I'm in.
- mahyarm 9y agoI'm guessing the apple watch is the replacement. It tracks cardio and can independently play music stored on it via bluetooth.
- wodenokoto 9y agoI'm afraid you are right, but, boy what a price hike for the use case!
- JoshTriplett 9y agoAh, discontinuing the Nano because it competes with the watch does seem likely.
- xirdstl 9y agoI have a Shuffle, and your comment describes exactly how and why I use it.
- LeoPanthera 9y agoAssuming "current services" includes Apple Music, the Nano does not have wifi.
- malandrew 9y agoThis seems like the strongest explanation. Apple has a greater chance at upselling someone to a subscription service if there is wifi or cellular data. That said, they could have added wireless connectivity to the Nano maybe.
- jads 9y agoConsidering how much Apple is focused on Apple Music, I'm not surprised. Both the Shuffle and Nano don't support the service, only able to sync content within an iTunes library. It would've been great to see Apple Music support added to either device but I imagine there's many reasons why they couldn't/wouldn't spend the resources doing it.
- pfranz 9y agoI'm sure this allows them to drop a lot of legacy. Keeping the shuffle means continuing to support a non-Darwin based OS [1] and any legacy protocols it used. It's continuing to be a shrinking market, so I can't imagine investing much r&d to add support for current services. Another poster asked why not use Apple Watch guts to update the Nano. I'm sure for similar reasons including the hardware used in the watch is likely significantly more expensive than what's in the nano, now. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixo
- mixmastamyk 9y agoI've noticed apple cutting under-performing products over the years to boost their stock price. It works but think it leads to a poorer ecosystem in the long run. A shame. For example I was a big fan of their wifi express, and purchased several, but they have been dropped too. So one day I'll have to go back to a clunky linksys or belkin and their insecure attempts at ease of use.
- LeoPanthera 9y agoDo you mean the Airport Express? It is not discontinued. https://www.apple.com/airport-express/ https://www.apple.com/airport-express/
- toomuchtodo 9y agohttps://9to5mac.com/2016/11/21/apple-reportedly-stops-developing-airport-wifi-router-products-moving-employees-to-other-projects/amp/ https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/21/apple-reportedly-stops-develo...
- LeoPanthera 9y agoThat story is 8 months old and wrong! Apple still sell them.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- eridius 9y agoThey may still sell them, but that surprises me because the story is correct, they stopped developing them. Nobody works on the AirPort anymore. They're just selling the last device they had, and it's only a matter of time until they stop. I'm actually surprised they haven't stopped already.
- tolien 9y agoThey might still be selling them but it's not wrong that they haven't developed them either. There hasn't been a new one in over 5 years and while most of their hardware has supported 802.11ac for 3-4 years (iMac since 2014, Retina MacBook Pro since 2013, iPhone/iPad since 2014) their first party wireless router doesn't.
- pavlov 9y agoIf they wanted to continue the iPod nano line, Apple should probably use watchOS. It's perfect for a device that size. Basically such an iPod nano would be a vertically elongated Apple Watch with a scroll wheel instead of the "digital crown" (that tiny wheel on the side of the Watch), and a Lightning connector instead of wireless charging.
- Nesze 9y agoI'm sad. The Shuffle has been my best electronic device investment in terms of price/value. Solid and reliable with a neat design. Such a great product. Been washed out several times and using for 5 years still with its original battery.
- Nesze 9y agoQ
- malandrew 9y agoIMHO The iPod nano is more interesting to keep around than the iPod touch. The nano has a much more convenient form factor for things like the gym and exercise. I don't see why people would choose the touch over a low-end iPhone. It's basically the same device without cellular network capabilities. Speaking of cellular network capabilities, I'm still amazed that Macbook Pros still don't have the option of adding a sim-card. I know I can tether to a phone or pocket wifi, but I don't understand why depending on another device is still the status quo.
- eridius 9y ago> I don't see why people would choose the touch over a low-end iPhone. It's basically the same device without cellular network capabilities. Because it has no ongoing cost associated with it, like a cellular contract does. And it appears to be a lot cheaper. The iPod Touch has the same CPU and GPU as the iPhone 6 (albeit a smaller display; it's 4" while iPhone 6 is 4.7"). An iPhone 6 starts at $549 (without financing). An iPod Touch with 128GB of storage is $299.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- orbitur 9y agoHoly shit, I had no idea there's a 6th gen, AND it came out in 2014. I thought they were still using a handicapped A5.
- aphextron 9y ago>An iPod Touch with 128GB of storage is $299. But a comparable Android phone with 4G would cost around $100 these days. The iPod touch was a great product and it made sense when they released it in 2007. Smart phones were still extremely expensive and you had to have an additional expensive data contract to go with it, so it made sense to have a cheaper option. Now you can get superior functionality from a cheap Android phone with an SD card, so I can't imagine they are selling many anymore.
- 9y ago
- lesbaker 9y agoI personally hate that the Shuffle is dead. It was a prime example of a device that did one thing only and did it well. No love for minimalism these days, I suppose.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoI used to love my shuffle since running with a phone wired up to headphones sucks (well, before the iPhone, an iPod). I'm quite happy with bluetooth headphones for the gym today though, it doesn't solve the running problem completely, but works perfectly fine for a stationary machine.
- mehrdada 9y agoApple Watch + Bluetooth headphones is the replacement.
- dgfgfdagasdfgfa 9y agoI thought this required the iPhone to actually store and play the music? If the watch itself can store it, hell I'll buy one today. Anything to avoid lugging the phone on a run.
- pfranz 9y agoZero firsthand experience, but it sounds like you can store 1gb of music on the watch itself (and you can up that to 2gb) and play via Bluetooth headphones. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204691 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204691 Funny enough, the Shuffle had 2gb capacity over the past 7 years. I'm guessing that was the sweet spot for Apple.
- drewg123 9y agoYou can do this with the 2nd generation I think. I'm in the android ecosystem, and have had 2 watches that do this: Moto 360 Sport, and now have Polar M600 that can store music (from Google Play), and which allows running without a phone.
- 9y ago
- mamon 9y agoShuffle was great for things like jogging and other outside activity (for those of us that don't care about Endomondo, and letting the whole world know that you jogged). Nano is much easier to let go.
- searine 9y agoFun fact, there is a very healthy after-market for the iPod shuffle among swimmers. The device can be easily and robustly waterproofed and is small enough to clip to your goggles. I expect many of these 3rd party companies will be buying up remaining shuffle lots.
- _mhr_ 9y agoBut what sort of earphones can you wear while swimming that don't fall out?
- jrnichols 9y agoI loved the 6th get iPod Nano so much. Small, clips on you, has a screen and all of the goodies. Favorite iPod of all time. This product change makes me wonder if they're considering a small player based on the Apple Watch. Similar form factor to the 6th get nano, clips on you, has most of the goodies of the Watch. I can dream, I guess.
- tompazourek 9y agoMe too. That iPod Nano was the first Apple product that I ever owned, and it was great. Actually a first product with a capacitive touch screen I had. It was so tiny and functional and worked so well, I remember those cool multi-touch rotations, distance tracking for running, awesome clip. It seemed to me like a miracle of engineering when it was released. Really magical experience for me to use it. I loved it so much that the next phone I bought had to be an iPhone. These days I'm used to running with a phone because I like to use Spotify and GPS tracking. But it's so bulky and heavy. I miss the days of the Nano.
- yborg 9y agoMy 6th gen came as a replacement for my original 1st gen Nano thanks to the recall for the burning Japanese units, long past the original warranty. Still works great despite one unfortunate incident where it went through both a wash and drying cycle in the pocket of a pair of shorts. The interface sucks balls, hard buttons like the last Shuffle would have been much better, but I'll use it until it dies.
- moe 9y agoThe iPod Touch never made sense to me. It is the same form factor as a phone. So why would anyone carry it instead of, or in addition to, their actual phone?
- DanTheManPR 9y agoIt has always been cheaper than an iPhone with equivalent storage. It's niche is use cases where you want a pocket computer, but don't need telephony functionality.
- kejaed 9y agoKids are one reason for cost and not wanting them to have a cell phone for other reasons. I also know people who use an iPod Touch when deployed to locations where they'd like to have that form factor of iOS device but are not allowed to have a device with the possibility of having a SIM card in it. This is obviously an unaccountably small segment of the market.
- pbuzbee 9y agoI carry an iPod Touch with my main phone (Nexus 5X). I use the iPod as a dedicated MP3 player. There are a few advantages: * Much better battery life than a phone (> 80% left after 8 hours of playback on a 6 year old device). * I can dedicate the full capacity to music storage and free up the same space on my phone. * No need to change apps to toggle music. * No music interruptions due to notifications.
- woofyman 9y agoI leave my touch in my car
- sigjuice 9y agoDevelopers might find an iPod Touch useful for iOS app development and testing.
- dspig 9y agoIt's my alarm clock that also happens to play podcasts and can browse and check email when needed. I guess it fits in a lot of niches.
- piker 9y agoCannot beat the iPod shuffle for activities that include water, such as winter sports. RIP an amazing product.
- peterburkimsher 9y agoRIPod.
- smpetrey 9y agoA couple of great products have now come to pass. That said, the Nano and Shuffle no longer belong in the Apple ecosystem. An Apple Watch and a pair of AirPods replace them. Both totaling $428 USD minimum. It's no wonder they discontinued the shuffle and nano. They're have a larger margin, and can boost sales of the apple watch in one fell swoop. Kind of a bummer but an interesting move.
- SCAQTony 9y agoThe margins from streaming are probably even better. https://www.recode.net/2016/12/7/13864776/apple-spotify-60-million-subscribers-7-billion-revenue https://www.recode.net/2016/12/7/13864776/apple-spotify-60-m...
- tyingq 9y agoThe nano is great for the gym, small, and no worries about sweating my regular phone to an early death. Sad to see it go.
- hanoz 9y ago> I don't see why people would choose the touch over a low-end iPhone. You can let children play with them without worrying they'll call emergency services.
- notadoc 9y agoIn other news, Apple still sold the iPod Nano and Shuffle
- pronoiac 9y agoMeanwhile, I just got something to switch my iPod Classic to flash storage, expanding the storage up to half a terabyte or so. I got the largest capacity iPhone a year ago and I still have to manage space on it.
- SuperPaintMan 9y agoRockbox that thing, download some WADs and play some DOOM!
- intopieces 9y agoProbably my favorite project I've done in the past few years. I managed to snag a mint condition 5th generation iPod (later called "Classic") and put 4 x 128GB microSD cards in it, with an expanded battery. Perfect for flights. Once the price of 256gb cards goes down I'll make another to get close to 1TB.
- it 9y agoIt's really nice to have a small, dedicated device that just plays music and does it well even if you're in an area with poor reception. Luckily, there seems to be a viable replacement for a small fraction of the cost: https://goo.gl/176cos https://goo.gl/176cos.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- mwexler 9y agoAh, the last device to allow me to listen to terrestrial radio and MP3s without using data or my limited phone battery is now gone. I know, who still does that? Well, actually many of us in the NYC area who listen to NPR in the morning... because the data drops out and our phone batteries are dead from the frantic early morning emails we all do. Sure, we all love our spotify downloads and our podcasts, but the MP3s I've collected, and the simple OTA radio just worked, in many places were data didn't. And I'm even sadder that they never went to digital or "HD" radio. Sometimes we think we are so clever with our streaming stuff, when we are literally suffering with a crummmy stream when we could just get it free OTA. Compressed, staticky, and annoying, sure, but free! So RIP, my iPod friends. From hard drives to SSD, you faithfully carried books and music for me across the world and at every hour of the day, something I can't say of my phones, and you did it well.
- claudiulodro 9y agoThis seems a little dramatic. I mean you can still choose from dozens of other mp3 players. On the low end this is 14 bucks and seems to meet your needs: http://www.tmart.com/8GB-MP3-Player-with-FM-Function-Red_p139437.html http://www.tmart.com/8GB-MP3-Player-with-FM-Function-Red_p13... On the higher end the Sony Walkman is now an mp3 player: https://www.sony.com/electronics/walkman-digital-music-players/t/walkman https://www.sony.com/electronics/walkman-digital-music-playe... It's probably not worth Apple's time to focus on such a niche market, but there are still plenty of other players in the space.
- userbinator 9y agoOn the low end this is 14 bucks and seems to meet your needs FYI that is an S1, a design that has amazingly been in production for over a decade: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S1_MP3_player https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S1_MP3_player Seeing those brings back some good memories for me... and they're still being sold! I don't think any other chaep consumer electronics has remained in production for this long. They take a single (replaceable) AAA battery and don't require any special software, just USB mass storage.
- sampo 9y ago
- racl101 9y agoI've always loved iPod with buttons. The color display ipod nanos (4th gen) and iPod classic was good as it got. They still had physical buttons but allowed you to see album covers. It was a great balance. The iPod touches, by comparison, are not as good. What took a second to do, now took at least 3 seconds to do because you have to swipe to get into the interface, open up the music app, and then change the song.
- kleer001 9y agoI'm still sore over the complete extinction of the gen-1 shuffle. Such a perfect design. So minimal, so clean. And it had its USB plug built in. Too beautiful to live.
- userbinator 9y agoThe Chinese have been producing clones of those, and likely will continue doing so for the forseeable future. Here's one company I found from a quick search of "USB drive MP3 player": http://challengeusb.com/product.asp?classid=22 http://challengeusb.com/product.asp?classid=22 (The bonus is that these don't require iTunes or other proprietary software --- they're standard USB drives.) In fact this might be why Apple discontinued that model --- the underlying components and design have become so easy to replicate and also public-domain that Apple doesn't feel it provides any differentiation.
- kalleboo 9y agoI wonder if this is a step toward killing iTunes. Now they no longer sell any devices that require syncing over USB.
- peterburkimsher 9y agoDo you want to help me make a replacement?
- outericky 9y agoIf they could figure out a way that doesn't take 5 hours to load music onto an Apple Watch, I'd consider one again (mainly so I can use Bluetooth headphones while running) over a shuffle (I understand the price difference). Though ideally a sweat / water resistance Bluetooth iPod shuffle would be perfect.
- hauget 9y agoA cellular based iPod shuffle with Siri and the ability to tether with the Watch would be really great! Kinda like Apple's version of what Pebble's Core was going to be. It would be really cool to just leave the phone at home and take something really small to play Spotify while I run, and still have access to emergency calls.