RIP iPod Classic, we’ll miss you and your iconic click wheel

By Malarie Gokey Updated March 10, 2015

apple retires ipod classic

Following Apple’s iPhone 6 and Watch keynote address, the iPod Classic disappeared silently from the company’s website. After nearly 13 years of existence, the iPod Classic will be sold no more.

Apple first put 1,000 songs in our pockets with the iPod Classic back in 2001. The first model features the iconic scroll wheel, but this one actually rotated. Apple only offered 5 or 10GB of storage on the iPod Classic and priced it between $400 and $500. The second-generation added the famous touch-sensitive wheel, but the fourth-generation ushered in the era of the click wheel.

With each iteration of the iPod Classic, Apple added more storage for even more songs, resulting in the sixth and last model, which offered as much as 160GB of space. The iPod revolutionized the way we listened to music and changed the industry forever along with the iTunes digital music catalog. Of course, in recent years, iPod sales have trailed off as the iPhone became more popular. At this stage, nearly everyone has thousands of songs on their iPhones instead of their iPods.

We speculate the iPod finally met its demise because the iPhone 6 now comes with a 128GB option.

Regardless, it’s sad to see it go. The retirement of the iPod Classic is truly the end of an era.

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