Apple may be about to bring the biggest changes yet to its iPod line-up, by discontinuing the still-loved iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle ranges.
There have been rumours for years that the Classic range of iPods is to get the chop – ever since the iPod touch was announced. But the latest rumour seems to be a strong one, with TUAW announcing it has an (unfortunately) unnamed source close to the matter, which is sounding the death-knell on all non-touchscreen iPods.
This is despite Steve Jobs announcing back in March that there were 'no plans' to discontinue the line.
Classic cut
The iPod Classic has had tremendous staying power. Its design is still similar to the design of the first range of iPods which is now a decade old.
It is still a popular choice, however, due to its superb disk-space – up to 160GB. It is hard-disk based, though, and this is something that Apple is drifting away from in its mobile phone, laptop and iPod Touch ranges.
As for the iPod Shuffle – this is set to be discontinued, according to TUAW, and not replaced. Instead the iPod nano will be the entry level iPod but one that still has touch capabilities.
Given that Apple has officially announced that a new iPhone is coming 4 October, it will be interesting if it will also announce changes to the iPod line-up.
This time of the year has been traditionally put aside for a new iPod announcement, and it seems we may still have one yet.
It's 10 years since the first iPod and the Classic is looking rather retro, so we are putting this rumour down as quite likely.
Your comments (5) Click to add a new comment
bradavon
September 28th 2011
5. Because it's rubbish. You cannot choose what song you listen to next. I know that's the point but it's a stupid one. It amazes me people buy Shuffles when there a lot better/more functional MP3 Players for the same/less money.
Besides the Nano is a lot better and nearly the same size. It's more expensive though.
It's weird the Classic is getting the chop, the biggest iPod Touch is less than half the storage size (64Gb) and nearly twice the price.
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mack
September 28th 2011
4. Why on earth would they ditch the shuffle?
It's a damn-near perfect piece of technology in it's current form.
Mp3 players need to small and light because they have headphones attached... from that perspective, having one that clips on to your clothing is perfect. Iphones are way bulkier.
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stoobie_land
September 28th 2011
3. What other high-capacity mp3 players are there really on the market? TechRadar, can you give us a round up. Top 5 or 10 on the market?
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cheysuli
September 28th 2011
2. Unless they enable "USB Drive" functionality on the touch and iPhone, a lot of people will be very unhappy.
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dkxii
September 28th 2011
1. too bad... the ipod classic is pretty much their only product that is built for a single purpose and you don't have to pay for other stuff you don't want/need. although i hate apples politics, the hype around their products and despise itunes i have bought a classic. it's the best mp3 player i've ever had (with a little help from foobar).
i hope it's just rumour... they could release a classic with 128-256gig ssd storage though...
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