The iPod Touch is now the last remaining iPod, as Apple has discontinued the iPod Nano and the iPod Shuffle.
However as some form of appeasement to iPod fans, Apple has doubled the capacity of the iPod Touch.
iPod Touch Storage Doubled
Apple revealed that it was doubling the capacity of the iPod Touch through a statement, the full text of which is mixed news for iPod fans.
The good news is that, from 16 GB and 64 GB models, the iPod Touch will now be sold at 64 GB and 128 GB capacities. The 64 GB model will be sold at $199, while the 128 GB model will be sold at $299.
Goodbye iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle
The increased memory of the iPod Touch, with no changes to its price, is a send-off for the two other iPods.
The bad news about Apple's statement is that the iPod Nano and the iPod Shuffle are now being discontinued, with the portable music players now taken down from Apple's official website and pulled out of its retail stores.
The $149 iPod Nano and the $49 iPod Shuffle, both unveiled in 2005, received their last update in 2015 with new colors, but the iPod Nano hasn't been revamped since 2012, and the iPod Shuffle has stayed the same since 2010. They are also the last two iPods that were not running on iOS, which is the same software used on the iPhone.
The end of the iPod Nano and the iPod Shuffle comes three years after Apple decided to shut down the iPod classic, continuing Apple's expectations that the iPhone will cannibalize the sales of the traditional non-network iPod models. With the launch of Apple Music, it is only a matter of time before the iPod Touch is phased out as well.
These two iPod models, however, are phased out during a time when the iPod's popularity is at a high point in pop culture due to the movie Baby Driver. In the film, a young getaway driver zooms through the streets with earbuds on, listening to music from multiple vintage iPod models.
The importance of the iPod to Apple, however, could not be overstated. It was the first device made by Apple which was sold not as a computer, but as a consumer electronics device. The iPod also paved the way for the iPhone, from which most users today listen to their music.
The original iPod celebrated its 15th birthday last year, and we took a look at its history and its significance to the growth of Apple.
